By the time Katie and Amata woke the next day, Dare and Clover were already awake and sitting at the table. The former slave was eating breakfast while the sniper cleaned Justice, his gray eyes flicking up as they stumbled into the room zipping up their Vault 101 jumpsuits. He took a hand from his gun, reaching over and pushing two plates of food to their side of the table. "Eat up. We've got a lot to do today."

The two Vault-dwellers sat down, pausing as they looked at the food. It was well-cooked chunks of some red meat and greenish eggs, along with a small round of dense, crusty bread. "What is this?" Katie asked hesitantly, poking the meat with her fork.

"All you need to start the day right." Dare replied, chambering large bullets into the magnum. "Protein, starch and carbs. The meat is from mole rats, with mirelurk eggs and homemade bread."

Amata gave the meat a distasteful look, but speared a chunk and ate it, her eyes going wide in surprise. "This is actually pretty good." She commented, before swallowing and realizing she hadn't eaten since breakfast yesterday and began wolfing down food.

"You bitches are lucky." Clover grumbled, kicking her feet up on a stool.

Katie, crumbs around her mouth, gave the former slave a questioning look. "Why?" She asked, her words slightly garbled.

Dare flicked his wrist, the click of the chamber closing making the girls jump. "Most people eat preserved Pre-War food, though many eat what they can kill, like mole rats, bloat flies, brahmin -if they're lucky- and the occasional mirelurk. Or, if they're really desparate, other people." Seeing the sick looks on their faces, the sniper sighed. "That's something you're going to have to get used to. The Wasteland is harsh and unforgiving; and to survive, you need to be too. There are psychos out there who will capture, kill you, cook you or rape you, and if you're lucky, they'll do it in that order."

Clover slumped quietly in her seat, staring at the floor with listless eyes, and Dare laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Almost everything out there will want to kill you. Not everyone, but you need to be cautious." He reached back, grabbing a couple of worn books off of a shelf, sliding them to the Vault Dwellers. "A friend of mine helped me compile a codex of creatures you'll find in the Wasteland. Study it carefully."

Not as hungry as they were before, the two girls picked at their food as they flipped through the books. Occasionally, one would ask a question, like, "What's a Deathclaw?"

"Deathclaws are one of the more terrifying creatures." Dare replied bluntly, giving them a serious look over his mother's pistol. "Large, horned and very, very fast; they're vicious and dangerous reptiles. They can take more than a few direct rockets hits, and their claws can shred metal armor like paper."

Katie gulped quietly, carefully turning the page. The house fell silent again, until they finished the books.

"So, when do we start?" Amata asked bravely, not really feeling all that brave.

"First, we need to get you clothes and weapons." Dare replied, standing from his chair and walking to a table covered in weapons and armor. "There's not a lot of blue out in the Wasteland, so you two will stick out like a sore thumb. Here are a few common items."

The two girls approached the table with wide eyes. Katie picked up an assault rifle, carefully examining the weapon. "What do we pick?" She asked, her dark green eyes flicking up to look at Dare.

"It depends on what combat role you're comfortable with." He said, patting his sniper rifle. "In my case, I'm a sniper. I prefer long-range engagements, using precision and accuracy to kill my targets quickly and efficiently; or, I'll put a silencer on my pistol and use my knife to kill quietly. To that effect, I wear metal-reinforced leather armor, which is light but can take some damage."

He nodded to Clover. "Clover, on the other hand, likes to be up close and personal, so she uses a shotgun, her sword or a super sledge and carries a pistol as a back-up, while wearing metal armor, which is heavy but can take quite a bit of punishment."

Amata tapped her fingers on the table, nervously eyeing the array of weapons. "If I have to fight, I'd prefer to get over with quickly." She muttered, her eyes flicking over the weapons. "And I don't want to be in front."

"Hmm." Dare hummed, tapping his chin in thought. "What are your skills?"

She thought for a second. "Well, I used to spend a lot of time in the Clinic, helping the doctor and treating people. I was pretty good at it, and both me and Katie liked to play around with terminals." She caught a brief flash of pain crossing the sniper's face before it vanished, making her unsure if she actually saw anything.

Katie looked up from the table. "I used to beat the crap out of the boys in the Vault when they picked on us, and I was the Laundry Cannon Operator for a while." Dare's eyebrow went up at 'Laundry Cannon'. Her mouth twisted in disappointment. "We didn't really need it, so I did Maintenance for the most part, repairing broken pipes and such."

The sniper scanned their bodies closely, making them slightly uncomfortable under his piercing gaze. He pushed an assault rifle and an SMG to Amata, along with one of the security batons from Vault 101. Then, he sent a combat shotgun, a 10mm pistol and sledgehammer Katie's way. "Those will fit you well, I think." He muttered, before grabbing a set of metal armor and handing it to the blonde. "Here, put this on. Clover can help you adjust it to fit. Amata, you and I need to go see my friend." He grabbed a set of leather armor, throwing it over his shoulder. "And bring one of those ballistic vests with you. In fact, once you're done, Clover, come over to Moira's and bring the other vest with you."

Clover nodded happily. "Sure thing, lover." She tugged on Katie's arm, leading her up the stairs as Amata quickly grabbed one of the vests and followed the sniper outside. The brunette found her eyes unable to settle on one thing, going from the ramshackle but well-cared-for homes, to the two-headed cow being milked, to the man in a duster and cowboy hat talking to a woman in a yellow jumpsuit, finally settling on the large, undetonated nuke sitting in the center of town, a small congregation gathered around it as an old man in rags preached.

Amata reached over and tapped Dare's shoulder rapidly, her eyes fixed on the nuke. "That's not active, is it?" She whispered hurriedly, as if afraid a loud question might set it off.

Dare smiled to himself. "No, it's not. I disarmed it awhile after I came here, though that did piss off the group standing near it. They call themselves 'The Children of Atom', and they worship the bombs and radiation." His uncharitable thoughts on their sanity tactfully went unsaid.

The former Vault-Dweller breathed a sigh of relief as they entered a shop marked 'Craterside Supply'. "Oh, hey Dare!" A cheerful voice greeted them, coming from a smiling woman behind the counter.

"Morning, Moira." Dare replied, his face creasing in a warm smile. Amata paused in surprise, looking at the sniper in surprise. As long as she had known him (which wasn't long), she barely saw him crack a small smile; usually, he was stone-faced and serious, and it seemed to be his default expression. Seeing a smile made him seem younger by several years, and turned his hardened features…not quite soft, but softer.

Dare unloaded the leather armor on the counter, scanning the cheerful woman as he did so. She had ditched the faded blue jumpsuit in favor of the one from Vault 77, which was not as baggy as the other, hugging her womanly form tightly and emphasizing her surprisingly curvy figure. It definitely looked good on her. "I need your help tailoring this to fit her." He continued, gesturing to a staring Amata. "I was thinking of also using parts from a security vest to reinforce the armor, make it a little more cushioned."

He nodded to Amata. "You can put it down, now." Dare said, finally noticing the former Vault Dweller giving him a strange look. "What?" The smile faded to be replaced by question.

Amata snapped out her sudden reverie, blushing slightly as she put the vest on the counter. "Sorry," She muttered, before her eyes fell on a familiar blue jumpsuit. "You're from a Vault?"

Moira arched an eyebrow at her questioningly, before looking down at herself. "Oh, no, I'm not a Vaultie!" She said with a cheerful smile. "My friend here got this for me!"

"Amata, this Moira. Moira, Amata." Dare smiled at the cheerful woman, tapping the counter. "So, you think we can do that?" He asked, pointing at the armor.

"Of course!" Moira replied happily. "It's pretty simple. Though, I will need her measurements first." She said, coming around the counter with a measuring tape.

Amata followed the shopkeeper into the back room, shooting the sniper a wary look before the door closed. Dare leaned against the counter, checking his armor for holes, finding one on his right side where the leather had been worn away. He stripped it off and laid it on the workbench, grabbing a leather scrap and his sewing materials.

A muffled crack filtered in from outside, making the two men look up. "Gunfire." Dare muttered.

"Yup." The merc grunted back.

"Trouble?"

"Probably."

"Hm."

"Mhm."

"Should probably check it out."

"Possibly."

Dare pulled his armor back on quickly and left the shop, making a beeline for the gates, the citizens of Megaton looking wary. Katie and Clover had just stepped out of his house with confused expression as Dare quickly scaled the ladder to the lookout, where he found Stockholm kneeling behind cover as bullets and expletives flew at him in equal measure. "Raiders?"

"Yup." The watchman answered tersely. "These ones seem to be higher than usual, which is saying something. The one that looks like the leader-"

A short explosion cut him off, followed by a maniacal scream. "I am the one who will ascend on the cloud of fire!" Dare chanced a peek over the lip of the cover, spying a Raider standing tall on top of a rock. He wore explosives everywhere on his body, decorating his chest, shoulders and legs with mines and grenades. The man shouted to the sky again, before ripping a pair of grenades off of his belt and hurled them at the gates of Megaton.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The Raiders chanted zealously.

"I'm guessing by his fixation with explosives he wants to get into Megaton and set the nuke off?" Dare asked dryly.

"Undoubtedly." Stockholm replied. "I wonder how crazy it would make him if he found out it was inert?"

The Sniper shrugged. "He'd probably explode. Speaking of, why haven't you shot him yet? And where's Weld?"

"Everytime I try to line up a shot, those bastards shoot at me. I can't stick my head up for a second, or I'll get filled full of holes." He explained shortly. "And they hit Weld with a handful of grenades; I'm pretty sure he's scrap now."

Dare hummed in thought. "Can I see that?" He asked, pointing at Stockholm's sniper rifle.

The watchman passed it off easily. "Sure, but I don't know what good it'll do."

Dare stuck his hand above cover, waving it slowly and drawing it back down quickly as bullets began to fly. He waited for a few seconds until the clicking of empty magazines reached his ears, standing up and accessing his Sniper's Mind. Time slowed to a crawl, his eyes focused on 'Boom' as he called the Raider, and pulled the trigger. He didn't even have to aim, knowing his bullet would hit its target.

It flew straight and true, carving through the still air to impact into the mine at Boom's belt with a soft clink that seemed to echo. Then he exploded with the force of a small nuke.

When the glare faded, Dare peered down at the newly-formed crater. There was no body, and it seemed 'Boom' had gotten his wish to ascend in an explosion, for there was nothing left. With the exception of a few dead Raiders lying around the crater, and a few more stumbling around, dazed. "There we go." He said simply, handing the rifle back. "I trust you can take care of the stragglers?"

"Yeah, I got 'em." Stockholm muttered.

"Good." Dare replied, sliding down the ladder, finding Lucas Simms standing near the bottom with Katie and Clover. "The problem's been dealt with. Though, you will need to get Deputy Weld repaired."

"Damn." Simms sighed, scratching the skin under his hat. "Well, thanks for taking care of whoever was out there."

"No problem." The sniper said, gesturing for the two women to follow him. "How's that armor feel, Katie?"

The former Vault-Dweller rolled her arm, tapping her fist against her armored chest. "It's not too bad, actually." She admitted in surprise. "I thought it would be heavier…and make me feel kind of weird. But instead, I feel ready for anything."

"Good." Dare replied evenly. "You'll be wearing that for a long time, so get used to the feeling. I think Moira should be about done with Amata, and she'll want to meet you too."

Upon entering Craterside Supply again, they found Amata clad in her new leather armor, adjusting her belt into a more comfortable place. She looked up as they came in, her eyes falling on her friend. They stared at each other for a few seconds in silence. "This makes it real, doesn't it?" The brunette asked quietly.

"Kinda." Katie replied seriously.

"Oh, you must be the other Vaultie!" Moira greeted the blonde with a friendly grin. "It's nice to meet you." As she talked to Katie, Dare examined Amata.

Her leather armor was much like his, but adjusted for her frame and padded with pieces from the security vest around the stomach and thighs. Much like Katie, she didn't seem awkward in something other than her Vault Jumpsuit. By her straighter stance, she actually seemed more confident in herself.

Moira had Katie strip out of her metal armor so that she could add the cushioning, and they had enough material left over to upgrade Clover's armor as well. Dare worked alongside the shopkeeper at the workbench and quietly explained the situation with the two Vault-Dwellers. "So, do you have any simple jobs I could take them on?"

"I do, actually." She replied excitedly, putting the finishing touches on Clover's armor. "I created a mole rat repellent using a mixture of jet and psycho! Just one tap of the applicator and poof! The mole rats get this feel-bad sensation and leave you alone! Or, so I hope. I haven't gotten the chance to test it out fully, so I want you to take it out and find some little critters to hit with it."

Moira reached under the counter and withdrew a simple sturdy curved stick that had some sort of virulent green mixture sprayed on it. Dare made sure to keep it away from his face, lest he get a contact-high. "How many would be enough for conclusive testing?"

"Ten." She said after a second of thought. "Normally, I would tell you to go to the sewers near the Anchorage memorial because there's a nest there, but it's downtown, and if those Vaulties are as new as you say they are, then that's probably a little out of their league."

"I agree. It's too soon to take them downtown, and mole rats aren't hard to find. And I need to have them run around in their new clothes and weapons, help them get used to the weight." He paid the shopkeeper for her service and set out from the store, stopping at his house to retrieve their equipment and set out.

"You use bottle caps as currency?" Amata asked, half in curiosity and half in bemusement. "Why, exactly?"

Dare thought for a second, and was surprised to find that he had no answer. The NCR used paper money, but bottle caps were the preferred way to pay, unless you had the materials to trade. "I'm not entirely sure." He admitted with a shrug.

Katie snorted in amusement. "Seems like a random thing to use as money." She shook her head. "Bottle caps…" She frowned in thought, and retrieved a small bag from her armor. "I found a bag of caps in my dad's desk when I was leaving. I used to think it was just some random 'dad thing', but he knew what he was doing when he left."

"He might have been preparing to leave." Dare offered. They stopped outside of the gates, watching as a few people scavenged the raider corpses lying around, with Simms and an older man crouched around the sparking remains of Deputy Weld.

"Yeah, maybe." The blonde muttered quietly. "Why are we not going downtown?"

Dare waved a wand at the carnage. "The whole downtown area is infested with Raiders and worse: Super Mutants."

Amata felt a shiver roll up her spine. "Do I want to know what those are?" She asked tentatively.

"Usually around eight feet tall, green skin, vicious, hostile and at the same time, smarter than they look and dumber than you'd think. And they only get bigger, meaner and less intelligent as they get older, and they can live for hundreds of years." He replied shortly. "While they are tough, anyone well-prepared can kill them pretty easily."

The brunette sighed. "You weren't joking when you said almost everything out here wants to kill us, were you?"

"It's not something to joke about." Dare said seriously. They walked in silence for an hour across the dry earth, the sun beating down on them. The Sniper pulled his hat on and chewed on a piece of gum, his eyes scanning the horizon intensely. Clover was bored, sighing every so often and swinging her super sledge loosely.

The former Vault-Dwellers were dealing with the heat admirably well, though both had a fine sheen of sweat on their faces and were breathing hard. Amata wiped a hand over her forehead and sighed. "Can we stop for a bit?" She eventually asked.

Dare nodded shortly and came to a stop at the top of a hill, sitting down on a flat bit of rock and taking a pull from his canteen. "Drink slowly." He cautioned the girls. "Water is important, and you need to ration it."

They nodded and talked quietly as he looked through his monocular, humming in satisfaction as he spotted a small cave in the distance with a pair of mole rats basking in the sun outside. "I found some mole rats." He relayed quickly, pointing at the cave. "I need to do the testing for Moira first, but we'll clean it out afterwards."

They set off again, Dare pulling the mole rat repellent out as he approached the cave. The mole rats hissed and charged at him, snarling as they leapt through the air with their large front teeth bared. The sniper quickly side-stepped the flying animals and whacked both on the head with the stick, immediately drawing Justice just in case it didn't work.

The mole rats landed on the ground, stumbling but no longer hostile, their heads smoking strangely. "Huh." Amata said, leaning in to look at the animals. "I guess it work-"

Their heads popped like a pair of blood sausages, splattering her face with blood and chunks of brain matter. Katie let out a strangled half-groan half-laugh, warring feelings of disgust and humor twisting her insides.

"That may have been a major reaction." Dare reasoned, handing a rag and a bottle of dirty water to Amata, who was staring at nothing with blood dripping down her face, before she pitched forward and vomited on the ground.

Her friend knelt at her side, patting her back as she heaved and coughed. After a few minutes, she accepted the water and shakily stood, washing her face and washing out her mouth, the bracer-like device on her arm clicking. Dare noticed the device, which he had noted seeing on Katie and James, and resolved to ask them about it. He pulled out a piece of gum and offered it to brunette.

"Alright, I'm fine now." Amata breathed, taking the piece and sighing as the minty flavor washed the sour taste of bile out of her mouth.

Dare took point heading into the cave, gently poking the mole rats that jumped at him with the repellent. Without fail, their heads exploded shortly after. After the tenth and final head explosion, the sniper stored the 'non-lethal' repellent away and directed the girls to engage the remainder with their melee weapons.

It was slightly surprising to find that Katie was strong enough to swing her sledgehammer around like it was a stick, crushing the skulls of mole rats with ease and a certain enjoyment. Amata was a little more squeamish about killing the creatures, but she held her own just fine.

After clearing the cave of mole rats, they searched through it and found a few caps and some ammo, though not much of either. Not that Dare expected to find much; mole rats didn't care for anything they couldn't eat, which included weapons or anything generally valuable.

Their job completed, the quartet made their way back to Megaton, Clover pouting at the lack of action on her end. Seeing that it was as good a time as any, Dare broached the subject of the wrist-mounted objects the former Vault-Dwellers wore. "What are those?" He asked bluntly.

Katie arched an eyebrow in surprise. "You mean our Pip-Boys?" She held the device out in question.

"Ah, a Pip-Boy." The sniper muttered in recognition. "I've heard of them, but I've never seen one before. Well, one that wasn't old and broken. What do they do?"

Amata fiddled with the knobs on her device. "A bunch of things. There's a built-in Geiger counter, a self-updating map, a radio that can pick up signals and play them along with holotapes, some sort of medical equipment that monitors our health and vital signs, and a page with our SPECIAL statistics on it." She explained quickly, tabbing over to the radio page and finding a station listed as 'Galaxy News Radio'.

Dare nodded in understanding, before his brow furrowed in confusion. "SPECIAL stats?"

"Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck." Katie listed off from memory. "They're measured from one to ten, with the ten being the best and one being the worst."

The sniper scratched his chin thoughtfully. "How does it quantify things like Perception or Charisma, or even something as abstract as Luck into a simple number?" He asked, mostly to himself.

The former Vault-Dwellers shrugged at each other. "I don't know." They said at the same time.

"Could be useful, at any rate." The sniper muttered. "I need to set up a training regime for you two before we go anywhere near downtown, so knowing how strong and durable you are will help."

The rest of the trip passed quietly, broken only by the sound of music emanating from Amata's Pip-Boy, which she turned off as they entered Megaton. Moira greeted them with a smile and cheerful wave. "So, how'd the repellent work? Safe and clean like I'd hoped?"

Dare hesitated upon seeing her hopeful and eager face and resisted the urge to lie and make her happy. Lying to Moira would only lead to bad things in the long-run, and he prided himself on being honest. "The mole rats had an allergic reaction to the repellent. An explosive one." He said carefully, placing the repellent on the counter.

Clover snorted as Amata twitched. "That's putting it lightly." She muttered.

It was almost comical the way Moira's face fell at the news. "Oh no! Those poor little creatures." She lamented, covering her eyes. "Maybe I used too much Psycho? Anyway, thanks for testing it out for me, even though it didn't work at all as intended. Here's some caps for your trouble. I have the next subject in mind for whenever you want to tackle it."

"I'll get back to it in a bit. See you later, Moira." He replied, waving as they left the store. They headed back home, and as Dare sat at the table with a piece of paper and a pen, he directed the girls to his workbench. "While I'm writing a schedule out, I want you to get familiar with your weapons. Take the guns apart, clean them and put them back together. If you need help, ask me and use these for references."

He reached over to the small bookshelf and pulled a pair of 'Guns & Bullets' magazines and handed them to the former Vault-Dwellers. As they went about their task, Clover leaned on Dare's shoulder and made suggestions as he wrote. Not all of her ideas were accepted, but the ones that were made the former slave smile happily and snuggle with the sniper, something the girls noticed.

…

Later, as they sat around the table eating lunch, Dare laid out his schedule. "First, I need to find out how fit you two are physically…"

"Punch my hand." The sniper ordered, holding his hands out and open.

Amata hesitated for a second, before throwing her arm forward, her fist meeting his palm with a low smack.

Dare nodded in thought. "Good." Then, he turned to Katie. "Same thing."

The blond didn't hesitate, uncorking a strong blow with an impact that echoed through the house.

The sniper twitched. "Well, you're very strong, but not as fast." He wrung his hand out, wincing. "The sledgehammer was a good choice."

...

Katie dropped her pack with a loud clack as the rocks inside bounced off one another, bent over with her hands on her knees as she panted heavily. Amata was in worse condition, sitting against the wall of the house, drenched in sweat. "Why…do we have…to do this?" She asked through harsh breaths.

"Builds endurance." Dare answered shortly, looking amused. "It's one of the most important parts of survival."

"Why aren't you doing this?" Katie questioned, sucking down water.

The sniper chuckled quietly. "I have done this, when I was younger. My parents trained me like this, as both traveled extensively for their careers; both of which required them to be out in the sun for days at a time, carrying a lot equipment." He paused as Clover jogged to a stop next to him, looking winded.

"Whew!" The former slave blew out a sigh, wiping her forehead. "That's one way to get the blood pumping." She grinned, draping an arm over Dare's shoulder. "The other way's much more fun, Lover."

Dare huffed, shaking his head slightly. "My father was a sniper and my mother was a Ranger, and I decided to follow in my their footsteps. He taught me how to be a Sniper, which included exercises like this…at the beginning."

"Prove it." Katie challenged.

The sniper arched an eyebrow in amusement, before bending down and lifting her pack of rocks onto his back easily. Then, just to prove his point, he grabbed Amata's pack as well and jogged off at a steady pace.

A few minutes later, Dare appeared from the other side of the house. Besides the light sheen of sweat on his forehead, he looked completely unruffled. "Good enough?"

Katie grudgingly nodded, taking her pack back and slinging it on her shoulders with a groan, Amata doing the same. "Yes, you've proven your point."

"Good." The sniper said with a nod. "Now, five more laps around Megaton. And if you finish within two hours, you can take a bath tonight."

The girl perked up and set off with dreams of hot water and soap in their heads. Dare watched them go, restraining a laugh. Clover looked at him curiously as she set her pack aside, having already finished. "What's so funny, Lover?"

"They don't know that the next step up is more laps…while in full gear."

...

"Close-Quarters Combat is not something you want to do, ever." Dare lectured, standing in the middle of the cleared out floor. "Basically everything you'll meet in the Wasteland will be physically stronger than you. Deathclaws and Yao Guai…just don't. Feral ghouls are spindly and can be taken down with a few good blows, but they're fast and attack randomly, same with Raiders, though they're usually high. Other humans would be the best target, but they'll more often then not be carrying back-up weapons, just like you."

"So stay back and let other people handle it or run away?" Amata offered.

The sniper nodded. "Exactly. But, it's better to know how to fight and never need it, then never know how to fight and get killed. So, Katie, attack me."

Katie blinked in surprise and stood up, taking a simple stance before charging at Dare with a wild blow. Dare swiftly ducked under the blow and grasped her wrist, spinning around behind her and twisting, sending the blonde to the floor on her back. "First lesson: Turning an enemy's momentum against them."

"…Then, we'll work on weapon proficiency."

The sound of gunfire ripped through the air, and a can filled with dirt flipped end over end, landing with a clink as earth spilled out of the newly-made holes. Dare walked over and nudged the can up, nodding in satisfaction. "Your bullet grouping is getting better, Amata." He praised, examining the other cans lying on the ground, all with similar perforations.

Amata blushed lightly at the praise, reloading her assault rifle with a practiced hand. "Thanks." She muttered softly, settling the weapon on her back. A loud crack drew their attention to Katie, who had just fired another shot at her target, a dead mole rat hanging from a tree.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this." The blonde said excitedly, checking her aim before firing again, tearing chunks of flesh from the corpse.

"Good." Dare nodded. "Now, switch to your sidearms."

Amata awkwardly pulled her SMG from her holster, holding it uncomfortably in her hand. Katie was much the same, and they shared a brief look before trading weapons, not noticing the small smile on Dare's lips. He'd purposely given them the wrong weapons, to see what they would do.

He wasn't disappointed.

...

"Next, we're moving on to moving targets." The sniper said as they walked across the Wasteland. "And the best moving targets are bloatflies. They're pretty swift, and launch venomous stingers to attack. They're also weak enough that a good shot will kill them, and their venom, while painful, isn't fatal unless you overdose, and it takes a lot venom to get there."

As they crested a hill, they found themselves standing above a quagmire of muddy, irradiated water. Bloatflies buzzed over the bog, checking eggs and feeding from the water. Amata gulped. "That…is a lot of flies."

"Yup." Dare replied simply. "Better get to it."

Clover sat herself down on a rock, crossing her arms and pouting. "Why do they get to kill all the things?" She asked grumpily.

The sniper shrugged nonchalantly. "They need to practice."

The former slave threw her arms up in exasperation. "You've been saying that for weeks, Dare!" She said loudly, looking very unhappy. Clover was surprised to see Dare smile warmly at her. "What?"

"You called me by name." He said proudly, as Amata and Katie opened fire.

Clover blinked in confusion, going over the conversation in her head. Then, her eyes went wide in surprise and locked on his, her soft brown depths shining with fear. "I-I'm sorry, Lover, I didn't-"

Dare reached out and closed her mouth, cupping her cheeks and pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. "It's alright, Clover." He whispered. "I want you to call me by my name." He pulled away to see her looking at him with wide, confused eyes, before she blinked and looked at the ground. She slowly leaned on his shoulder and thought silently as he watched the girls shoot at the bloatflies.

…

Later that night, after they had eaten dinner, Dare lay on his bed, feeling sleep creeping up on him. The door creaked as it opened and Clover stepped in his room, wearing the pink dress he had first seen her in, back in Paradise Falls. Her countenance was far from her usual confidence; in fact, she seemed downright shy.

"...Clover?" He asked tentatively. "Is something wrong?"

She gulped audibly, playing with the hem of her dress. "I-" She forced herself to stand straight and look him in the eye. "I remembered…what happened to me. What was done to me in - in that place."

Dare stood in front of her, his hands on her shoulders. "I'm sorry, Clover." He said softly. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Clover stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his chest, leaning her forehead on his shoulder. "You already have." She whispered, kissing his neck. "But, if I can ask for one more thing…"

"What?"

She took his wrists and directed his hands to the clasps of her dress. "Help me forget, Dare. Make me feel real again." At his hesitance, tears pooled at the bottom of her eyes. "Please, Dare."

He leaned in and gently kissed her lips, slowly unhooking the clasps and dragging the pink fabric down her body to her feet, where she stepped out of the dress and he discarded it in a corner of the room, to be forgotten. Just like the man who had put her in it in the first place.

"…Then we'll have you get some experience in your fields of interest."

Katie paused in her work, sitting back on her haunches and wiping her forehead with her arm. Large metal pumps creaked and hissed around her, though not as badly as they had been a week ago.

"Lookin' good, girlie." An older man with white hair and black skin appraised her work, taking the wrench from her and tightening a loose bolt. "You're welding's still a little patchy and you don't tighten everything all the way, but you've done good. Took some of the workload off my back and extended the water pump's lifetime by ten years, at least."

"Thanks Walter." The blond sighed, sitting on the ground.

"Thank you." He replied. "You've done a good job, and that deserves a reward." The old man handed her an ice-cold Nuka-Cola and sat with her, popping the cap from his and hers and clinking their glasses together.

A few minutes later, Simms appeared in the doorway. "Walter, Katie, there's new job for you." He announced. "One of the railings on the upper-level walkways broke off as someone was leaning on it."

"Was anyone hurt?" Katie asked seriously.

The sheriff shrugged. "The railing itself didn't hurt anyone, but the person leaning on it fell, caught their leg on one of the rails below and broke it, then landed on the tail of the bomb. They're fine for the most part."

"Who was it?"

...

Amata scrubbed her hands in the sink of Doc Church's clinic, having just stitched up a nasty cut on a woman's arm. She had been attacked by Giant Ants and one of them had slashed her up pretty good. Luckily, she had gotten to the clinic in time.

Amata had been working in the clinic for the past week, helping the doctor with the multitude of patients that came in everyday, with wounds varying from simple cuts and fractures to radiation poisoning and drug overdose. She had learned much about the slap-dash medicine used in the Wasteland.

Most people used stimpacks willy-nilly for everything, but when it came to large cuts and broken bones, most didn't know that, unless they set their bones and stitched themselves up, they would be doing more harm than good to their bodies. Stimpacks where dead-useful, but they weren't miracles in syringes.

And Doc Church, while being both abrasive and too fond of his alcohol, also knew his stuff when it came to medicine and chemistry, frequently taking apart Psycho, Jet and the like and turning them into useful cures.

And Amata could tell that having this knowledge would be useful in the coming days.

"Doc, Amata." Simms entered the clinic. "Dare's been injured." He didn't seem to be too alarmed, though.

"What?" Amata asked in surprise. "How?"

"Apparently he was leaning on a weak railing that gave away, and he fell." The sheriff explained. "He doesn't seem to be too injured, but I was there when he fell, and I definitely heard some cracking."

She didn't have to hear anymore. Quickly gathering a dose of Med-X and a stimpack, Amata bustled out of the building to find a few people, mostly worshippers from the Children of the Atom, gathered around the inert nuke. She started to push her way through the group when she heard Confessor Cromwell's reedy voice. "What are you doing, child?"

She broke through to see Dare half-submerged in the dirty pool of water around the bomb, quietly grimacing in pain. "Just bathing in Atom's glow, Confessor." The sniper replied, and Amata refrained from snorting. She had gotten to know him well enough in the last month that she could tell when he was being sarcastic, even when he sounded polite. And she agreed with his view on the Children of Atom: They were nuts, but at least they weren't hostile.

"Ah, I see you have learned of the true unity and division of the Atom!" Cromwell exclaimed gladly. "Well, I'll leave you to it, child."

The crowd dispersed as Katie and Walter came out of the Water Maintenance. "You're the one who got injured, Dare?" The blonde asked in surprise.

Dare sighed and winced in pain. "Yup." He waved off the stimpack offered to him by Amata. "Moira's doing a chapter on injuries and radiation sickness, and as I was contemplating how one who go about it, the rail broke and I fell. Broke my leg and probably cracked a few ribs when I landed on the nuke."

"So you don't want to be healed before you can get back to Moira, then?" Amata deduced. "That's not smart."

"No, but it is fortunate, in a way." The sniper replied, shifting in the pool and wincing. "I will take that Med-X though." He held up his wrist, his Geiger counter clicking steadily. "I'll have to sit here for about thirty minutes before I get radiation sickness."

The brunette gave him an uncertain look before injecting him with the chemicals. "If you're sure." She muttered, before heading back to the clinic. Walter and Katie began repairing the rail as Dare lay in the small pool, fervently wondering if a survival guide was worth it.

"…I'll also make sure there is time to relax."

Amata sat on one of the chairs in their house with her feet up on a stool, a cold Nuka-Cola on the table next to her that she occasionally sipped as her nose was buried in a well-preserved copy of Nikola Tesla and You.

Katie was seated in the other chair near the couch, enthusiastically reading US Army: 30 Handy Flamethrower Recipes, occasionally reaching over to tap Clover on the foot and point out a particularly fine example of large weaponry.

This was both annoying and fine with Clover, as she liked big guns as much as the next girl, but she was also lying on the couch with her head in Dare's lap and reading one of the few pre-war books they had (The Count of Monte-Cristo), and she didn't like being pulled away from his calloused fingers running through her hair.

Dare, being the serious man that he was, was reading an issue of The Silver Shroud.

"And after that, we'll start taking more dangerous jobs."

"Landmines are one of the dangers out there that you can profit from." Moira explained to the girls. "Disarm one before it blows, and you can sell it for plenty of caps!"

Katie and Amata were of the same mind that the eccentric shopkeeper sounded far too cheerful about them being possibly blown up.

"I've heard about a place that's chock-full of mines. Most traders just call the place 'Minefield', for self-evident reasons. Sounds like the perfect place for some fieldwork." Far too cheerful. "Get in, get back, and tell me all about it! Don't forget to takes notes, and could you bring a mine back for my studies?" She marked the place on Katie's map.

Dare nodded and finished trading in his salvage. "Sure thing, Moira. That's perfect, actually. There's a place near there that I've heard rumors about being a Raider camp. I wanted to clear that place out soon, so this works out in our favor."

The former Vault-Dwellers traded determined looks. This would be their final test, as far as Dare was concerned. They would have to kill again, not just wild animals, but people.

They were ready.

…

…

…

A/N: Been awhile, huh? I got caught up in classes, and family issues and all that fun B.S. and it didn't want to come for this story. But, after some chapters for my other stories and more than a few hours in Fallout 4, my muse was ready to write again.

Notes on the chapter: Katie and Amata get introduced to the dangers of the Wasteland, receive their first weapons and armor, and get a crash-course in surviving the new world they've found themselves in. They won't ditch their jumpsuits, they just wear them around the house or under their armor, like Katie. And I'm going with Fallout 1, 2, and 4 style Vault Jumpsuits, i.e. basically spandex. Future spandex!

Clover finally makes some progress, mentally and with Dare, though she won't be changing too much. There are somethings you don't recover from, that change you permanently.

And Moira gets more of her book done.

The last part of the chapter, with all the skipping around, is my answer to a training montage, that takes place over about a month and a half. They got stronger, wiser and built some new helpful skills. I did this because I didn't want to spend a couple of chapters with just training, that would be boring.

And I've left a few nods to the group's future roles, in RPG terms:

Katie: Tank, ranged DPS.

Clover: Off-Tank, melee DPS.

Amata: Heals/Support.

Dare: Ranged Support/Rogue.

And they won't pick up any more companions, not for a long time anyway, and neither will all of the sidequest be done, I'm not that kind of person. The main questline will be done, as will a few sidequests, and all of the DLCs.

Thanks to Kurogane7 for editing and being a sounding board. Why not check him out?

Thanks for reading this chapter, if you liked it, why not leave a review? And if you like it a whole bunch, why not tell your friends? I'm sure they would like it too, and it would make me happy, and when I'm happy, my muse is happy, and when my muse is happy, she lets me write instead of being a bitch! Yay!

Stay Awesome.

~Soleneus

P.S.: Had my first final today. Only one more to go on Wednesday and then I'm done with classes! Whoo!

Until next quarter, that is.

Boo.

And shit. I'll probably start working on the next chapter of this while it's fresh, but if you read my other works, you can expect updates for all of them in a bit. I've been cycling between them to update, so I don't know exactly when the next chapter are, but I'm working on all of them.

Stay Awesome Some More.

~still Soleneus