Dare To Wander

by Soleneus

Saved by a Stranger, a young man sets out into the D.C. Wasteland with Sniper in his hands and justice in his heart, daring to make a difference in world that would rather he not. Slavers, Raiders, and bad people beware...He Dares.

12. Can't Stop the Signal, Baby

The foyer for the GNR building was cluttered with sandbags as the armored men and women of the Brotherhood of Steel set aside weapons, now that the Super Mutant threat had been taken care of—if only for the time being. For the most part, the Wastelanders were ignored in favor of shoring up defenses and ferrying supplies outside, leaving them free to ascend three floors. At the top of the third set of stairs, they came face to face with the man himself: Three Dog.

He was rather average, to tell the truth. He had dark skin; a lean figure adorned with a patched, sleeveless leather longcoat; no apparent weapons, but with a neat mustache and goatee. Besides that, he wore a headwrap and a pair of sunglasses, even though they were indoors.

He smiled warmly as they approached him, a rare expression due to the fact that it was genuine, as if he was pleased to see them. "The look on your faces says it all: 'Who the heck is this cat, and why should I care?' Well, children, prepare to be enlightened!" Three Dog announced grandly.

Amata and Katie found themselves smiling at the DJ's grandstanding. From the way he rattled it off, it seemed to be something he did to everyone he met. It would be better to humor the man to get what they wanted.

"I…am Three Dog," he introduced, bowing theatrically. "Jockey of discs, teller of truths. Lord and Master of the finest radio station in the Wastes…Galaxy News Radio. And you, well, I know who you are." He peeked over his glasses at Clover and Dogmeat. "For the most part, anyway. My apologies. One Vault Dweller pops out of ol' 101 is a surprise…but three? Downright unheard of. And you…"

Dare's eyes narrowed curiously. "What about me?"

Three Dog shrugged. "The coat's new, but you've got the hat…do you have the gun?" He glanced down at his hip, where the grip of Justice was visible. "You do. You're the Gunslinger of the Wastes, Killer of Slavers, Freer of Slaves. You're the man who stormed Paradise Falls and single-handedly killed every son-of-a-bitch there."

The sniper shook his head, laying a hand on Clover's shoulder. "I wasn't alone," he replied, giving her a small smile. "I had help. How did you hear about that?"

"Kinda hard not to," the DJ said, scratching his chin, "But in this case, a nice young lady ended up comin' through here a while back. Name of Crimson, you remember her?"

Dare nodded solemnly. "Was she healthy?"

"She was gettin' there," he replied kindly, turning to the two Former-Vault Dwellers, "Now, let's get to the real reason you're here, and not just to hear my soothing voice in person. You're looking for dear old dad, aintcha?"

Katie nodded stoically, though her fingers were drumming a nervous beat on her palm. "You know where he is." It was meant to come out as a question, but it didn't.

"I know where he was," Three Dog corrected gently, "Not where he is currently. But yes, I do. Before I tell you, though, I need ya'll to help me. The Good Fight ain't gonna fight itself, ya dig?"

"Oh come on!" Katie burst, throwing her hands up. "Are you really gonna leverage my dad's location for some errand?!"

"Hold on now, this ain't just some 'errand', girly," The DJ said defensively, "And do you think I like doin' this? I need your help, you need to know what I know. Art of the deal, 101."

Dare stepped in front of the blonde firepower-enthusiast. "We can still help, alright?" He interjected calmly, "But this is important to her. Please, just tell her where her father is. If it comes down to it, we can split up. Clover and I will stay here to help. It's a win-win."

"Not for us," Amata spoke up, frowning sadly. "If we split up, who knows if we'll meet again? The Wastelands are…big, and confusing…and scary."

"I believe in you, both of you," the sniper said softly. "I know you can handle yourselves. And you know where my house is. It'll be alright."

"Ugh…" Three Dog groaned painfully. "Why? Why'd you go and do that? Trying to take advantage of a man's bleeding heart…" He sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly under his glasses. "Listen, children, I can see you got a really tight knit goin' on, and I just ain't got the heart to break that up. So, pay attention. When your old man came to me, we talked for a long time. He wanted to know about the lay of the land, and more specifically, where the smartest people are. And besides those rumors up in the Commonwealth, the smartest people you'd find are in Rivet City. Last I saw, he was making tracks for that half-sunk ship."

He expected there to be exclamations of joy, undulations of happiness. Instead, he got silence. Looking up at his audience, Three Dog was surprised to find that the Vault Dwellers wore expressions of annoyance; and in the case of the blonde one, despair and disappointment.

"Now, I can't speak for everybody, I'm not the Enclave, but…shouldn't you be happy?" He asked slowly. "You know where your pops is. That's what you wanted to know, right?"

Katie closed her eyes, sinking to her knees and clutching her head. "Normally, I would be, I know you're sacrificing something important to you, but…" She started woodenly, before jumping up and growling. "We were just in Rivet City! We were there not even four fucking hours ago!"

"Ah…" Three Dog nodded in realization.

"Dammit!" The blonde cursed, stumbling and leaning against a nearby wall with her head bowed. "So close…"

Dare came to her side and laid a comforting hand on her back, even though she barely felt it through the armor. "It's just a setback, Katie. We can make up the lost time if we're close enough," he turned to Three Dog. "How long ago did you speak to James?" If it was within a day, we can catch up within a week, less if we hurry.

"Well, I don't normally count the days, but I figured you'd be right behind him," The DJ shrugged. "We talked four, five…weeks ago, give or take a couple of days."

The sniper clicked his tongue. "Ah." Right. James probably sprinted here after he left my house…about a month ago. I should've factored that in.

Katie sighed, taking her helmet off and running a hand through her sweaty hair. "So, not only are we not close, we're not even close by a long shot. Even if we ran back to Rivet City, dad would still be weeks ahead of us. What's a few more?" She looked up at Three Dog, her green eyes firm. "We'll help you."

Three Dog was surprised for a second, before a massive grin broke over his face. "There it is!" He cheered, "There's that family resemblance! Your old man had the exact same look in his eye, the look that says 'I can get shit done.' Love it!" The DJ composed himself with a cough. "Anyway, here's what's happenin': you may have noticed that outside Downtown, my sultry vocals sound like somethin' a feral ghoul would hiss out. And besides my Knights in Shining Power Armor, there ain't much of an audience here."

"Did a fan of Enclave Radio take a potshot at your relay?" Clover asked with a smirk, crossing her arms and leaning against an unused desk.

"A super mutant is about the only thing dumb enough to be one, so yes." Three Dog replied. "One of 'em saw a shiny round thing on top of the Washington Monument and managed to pick it off. This is a major problem, seein' as I needed that dish to reach every corner of DC, and the factory that made relay dishes is long gone, as in 'leveled completely' gone."

Amata, seeing that they wouldn't be leaving for a while, pulled up a battered chair. "So, you have a plan to fix it or find a new one?"

"The thing's swiss cheese, so fixing it's a no-go," the DJ replied with a shrug. "However, one of the Brotherhood guys who passed through here mentioned seeing a dish in one of DC's old museums. Turns out it's the dish off the old Virgo II Lunar Lander in the Museum of Technology. What I need you to do for me is get that dish, take it to the Washington Monument and replace the broken one. That's it."

"That's it?" Katie asked quietly.

"Yup," Three Dog nodded. "That's it. Tell you what, let's make a bet. If you can get all that done before nightfall, I'll give you the location of a military cache, how's that sound?"

Before she could agree, Dare held up a hand. "It's not the Wheaton Armory, is it?"

"Nah, heard that place had been cleared out," he replied, crossing his arms. "So?"

Katie stood up and rolled her shoulders. "Deal. We'll get your broadcast back up." She stuck out a hand and Three Dog shook it, sealing it. "And we'll get it done before night."

"Ha!" The DJ laughed delightedly, clapping his hands. "I knew I could count on you! You guys are going to be the best thing that's happened to Galaxy News in a long time. If you need any more info, I'll be here."

Before he could leave, Dare spoke up. "Do you have a quicker way to get to the Mall? As it is, we wouldn't make it there by nightfall, let alone get your relay up."

"Ah! Knew I forgot something," Three Dog snapped his fingers in remembrance. "Head out the back door of GNR and take the collapsed car tunnel to the other side of Dupont. Then, take the Metro tunnels until you're there. You'll have to find another way back, though, it's a one-way trip."

Thanking him for the information, the quartet plus dog made their way down a floor and out the back of the building, but not before stopping and trading a few weapons scavenged off the Super Mutants for extra ammunition and supplies.

They emerged into the afternoon sunlight atop a pile of rubble that led down into a street, blocking most of it off. A few abandoned cars and even a bus sat rusting among the ruins, with a few feral ghouls were stumbling about the area. As the ladies hopped down, Dare picked them off with his sniper and followed shortly. They found a door marked with the Brotherhood's symbol and entered, finding themselves in collapsed car tunnel.

With Katie and Clover taking point, they made their way through the rubble and into a metro office, where a dormant Protectron still sat and an active terminal nearby. Although tempted to activate it, they weren't the fastest of robots and they were on a bit of a time crunch.

Dogmeat growled softly, nosing the door to the tunnels. Dare drew Justice while Katie switched out her minigun for her sawed-off, and Clover kicked the door open. Their hound darted out and to the left as Super Mutant looked at them with surprise on its sneering face, which was then blown off as the blonde unloaded both barrels at it. The former slave rushed after Dogmeat and found him with his teeth around another mutie's ankle.

She shot it in the head and it went down. "Seems like that was it," she commented, policing a pair of frag grenades while Katie grabbed a few more shotgun shells.

"Unlikely," Dare replied, screwing a silencer onto Red Empress and taking the lead, "Dogmeat and I will take point, follow us about five steps back."

The sniper crept forward and down a set of stairs, opening a door marked with an arrow painted in the same style as the Brotherhood symbology. It opened up into a train tunnel, with a pile of sandbags and fire in a barrel. Standing next to that fire was a raider wearing a hockey mask and wielding an assault rifle, whose eyes fell on him and jumped, whipping her weapon around.

Dare put a silenced round through her left eye and she fell with a cry, a male voice suddenly calling out, "What was that?!" Another raider ran around the corner in nothing but a pair of shorts brandishing a pool cue, which clattered to the ground noisily when the sniper double-tapped him in the chest.

He continued onward after scavenging a magazine of rifle ammo, finding a small camp with a few lockboxes, which he picked and found several energy cells. Those Dare passed to Amata before moving on, raiding a small medical cache and sneaking through the halls before coming into a small filing room. The door was open and he could hear the chatter of more raiders, and the quiet whirring and beeping of a turret running a sweep echoing off of rock.

Amata followed him, her eyes immediately falling on a wall-mounted terminal. She hacked into it quietly as Dare slowly closed the door leading to the cavern of enemies. The brunette medic discovered that the terminal controlled the turrets in the next room, and switched off their IFF (Identify Friend/Foe) tag, meaning that everything they could see had just become a target.

The noisy chatter of automatic gunfire was joined by the raiders' surprised screams and curses followed by returning fire. There was a furious rapport, followed by several bodies hitting the ground and a small blast as one turret was destroyed. Then, there was two-tone buzz as the remaining turret went back to sweeping.

With a few more taps, the turret was deactivated and they continued into the room. Most of the raiders were dead, except for one, a woman with pink hair who lay on the ground with her hands feebly trying to stem the bleeding from the ragged holes in her torso. Her eyes flickered to them and she let out a pained gurgle that could've been a condemnation, or a plea for help or mercy.

Dare gave her the latter along with a silenced bullet, before scavenging a pair of magazines for his SMG and a metal plate that was in good condition, which he used to quickly replace a scorched section of his armor. Amata patted one of her pouches, testing the weight. "I've got so many drugs on me, someone would overdose twice before getting through all of them," she commented, making sure it was secure. "It's a good thing Doc Church lets me use his chemical lab. At least that way, we can turn them into something useful."

"A good skill," Dare replied, checking his ammo. "With all the trouble we're heading into, it'll be seeing a lot of use." He paused next to the metal door leading to another set of tunnels, listening. "Gunfire."

Clover loaded a fresh magazine into her shotgun and pumped a shell into the barrel. "Gonna be a whole lot more of that real soon," she smirked, taking point as the sniper opened the door. The gunfire echoed from farther down the tunnel, along with the ragged screams of feral ghouls and shouting.

Picking through the rubble towards the conflict, they found several corpses of ghouls, raiders, and the green-armored forms of Talon Company mercs; many of which had a surprising level of decay. "A good amount of salvage to be had," Dare muttered, cocking an ear as the shooting was cut off by a cry of pain that faded into a choked gurgle. Dogmeat growled warningly and lead the way up a staircase, passed more bodies and ramshackle barriers.

The emaciated figure of a feral ghoul crouched next to a raider, tearing at the corpses' throat with its teeth. Dogmeat barked and ghoul spun around to face them, jagged maw splitting to spill crimson blood on the tattered remains of combat armor now fused to its skeletal chest. A staccato of fire rang out as Amata, Clover and Dare fired one shot each, pulverizing the ghoul's head in an instant.

Katie's minigun spun down with a sad whir, and she sighed. "I should work on my draw time," she muttered, rolling her shoulders and stepping away to gather whatever took her fancy. There wasn't much besides a few low-condition weapons and armor, and a decent amount of ammunition and grenades; along with a worn combat knife that Dare took to replace his broken one. They took a moment to sort out their gains before continuing, following the painted symbols on the walls.

Stepping over even more corpses, Dare paused when Dogmeat growled once more, and his challenge was answered in kind. A trio of dogs, their bodies covered in scabs and lesions, padded out of a large fissure in the wall, teeth bared in vicious smiles. A pair of yips made the group look behind them to see a pair more of canines, yellow eyes gleaming in the dim light.

Dogmeat barked, hackles rising and the other dog replied, slowly padding back and forth before suddenly crouching and springing into motion. It was followed by quickly by the others, and Dare found himself fending off the wild animal. It leapt at him, saliva flying from its teeth as it snarled; the sniper lashed out and grabbed the dog around the collar, pivoting on his heel and tossing it down the tunnel behind him, lowering his shoulder and tackling it to the ground; at the same time, he drove his knife under its ribs, before yanking it out, switching his grip, and driving the blade into the dog's throat.

Clover held her arm up, letting the dog lock its jaws around the metal of her armor before driving a fist into its side, the pneumatic hiss of her powerfist overtaken by the snapping of the animal's ribs. It yelped in pain and withdrew, and she unloaded a shotgun shell into its head for good measure.

The dog that had picked Katie as its target was batted away by the back end of a minigun, bouncing off the wall and hitting the ground with a whimper. It looked up just as the wide head of a Super-Sledge descended, and its life ended with crunch.

Her shot went wide, the red line hissing over the dog's head before it was upon her, lunging up under her laser rifle to tackle her to the ground. Amata's hands clamped around its throat, snarling mouth inches away from her nose. She adjusted her grip and twisted, snapping its neck with a grunt of effort.

The medic sat up and nearly met a hand with her forehead. Dare stood above her, offering her his hand. She took it and was pulled to her feet, picking up her laser rifle in time to see Dogmeat pin the dog to the ground and rip its throat out with his teeth. "Good boy," she crooned, scratching his ears and feeding him a piece of jerky.

"Pass me some of that," Clover said, holding out a hand and receiving a strip. "Aah, 'splorin' sure makes me hungry."

"We've got a while to go, so snack when you can," Dare replied, popping a piece of gum in his mouth. "Let's move on."

They moved on, stepping over the carcasses and heading for the exit into the Mall, where the Museum of Technology awaited. On the way up the steps, they found the gnawed body of a woman in ragged clothes, a broken .32 next to her along with a scribbled map giving directions to something called 'The Temple of Union'. As they approached the exit, gunfire began to echo down, the rapid cracks joined by explosions and the shouts of Super Mutants.

Emerging into the sunlight, what they saw laid before them was nothing less than a warzone. Trenches carved into ground by hand and explosives zigzagged across the open ground, a jagged, mutie-filled path that led to the dirtied, battered Washington Memorial. Steel and concrete walls topped with barbed wire surrounded the monument, power-armored Brothers with heavy weapons laying down a field of fire at the small army of Super Mutants infesting the trenches.

"Hm," Dare hummed thoughtfully, his eyes sweeping the warzone. "There's quite a few mutants between us and the monument." At his side, Dogmeat growled emphatically.

"But not in our way to the Museum," Clover added, pointing to a once-stately building still wearing the tattered banners bearing the image of the Virgo II lunar lander. "With the muties strokin' a murder boner for the Brotherhood, they won't be looking this way."

"We're gonna help them, right?" Katie asked, voice laden with concern as she watched a pair of mutants pop out of a trench and fire rocket launchers at the Knights guarding the monument, one going down in an explosion. The other moved to cover him with his minigun, laying down suppressive fire as three more Knights emerged to drag the fallen inside, one staying behind to take his place. "They won't be able to hold out for much longer."

"It's actually a fairly even stalemate," the sniper replied, scanning the battlefield through a monocular. "The super mutants are more numerous, yes, but the Brotherhood's power armor is tough and easy to repair. The Knight that went down isn't dead; given an hour or so, he'll be back out and fighting. But yes, we're going to help them. After we get the dish."

"Let's be quick about it, then," Amata muttered, eyeing the crawling trenches nervously. Together, they made their way over to the Museum of Technology, sticking to cover and remaining low until they were able to slip inside the building.

Despite its decrepit state and crumbling ceiling, the entrance to the museum was still a sight to behold, the daylight shining in on the towering pillars. Near the front desk, the skeleton of a primitive plane lay broken on the floor, the bannister above it draped with a banner that had the Vault-Tec logo displayed. "Besides the dish, there's got to be some useful salvage here," Dare noted aloud, vaulting over the desk and flicking on the terminal. "We should come back here once we're done."

"I remember seeing posters of this place around Paradise Falls," Clover murmured, gazing at the ruined airplane with inscrutable eyes, scratching at the butt of her shotgun with an armored thumb. "Sometimes, I'd wonder what it'd be like, goin' to space, looking down at the world."

"It'd probably be very brown and disappointing," Katie commented wryly as she scratched their dog behind the ears, earning an amused snort from the former slave.

While the others were busy, Amata was poking around the area, looking for anything useful when she found a wall-mounted terminal that was in idle mode, not off. Curiosity piqued, she approached the computer and tapped a key, the screen springing to life. Beneath the typical building information, there was a message from someone named Prime to someone named Jiggs about 'leaving the usual bread crumbs all over some of the info terminals' in the museum, and that finding and unlocking all three would lead to some loot.

Looking at the string of numbers that would unlock the next step, Amata bit her lip in thought, wondering what the connection was, with her eyes being drawn to that name, 'Prime.' "Hey Dare!" She called over her shoulder, the sniper looking up from the terminal.

"Yes?" He asked, stepping aside to let Katie download a map of the building on her Pip-boy.

"When Raiders are smart, are they ever subtle about it?"

Dare shook his head slowly. "Raiders are never subtle. They like to show off, so they generally name themselves after whatever they're good at."

"Yeah," Clover chimed in, "There was this chick I knew who swore up and down that she could talk to Deathclaws and control them. Called herself 'Death-Ma.'"

Amata looked away from the computer, incredulity written on her face. "…And what happened to her?"

The former slave shrugged carelessly. "Got eaten by a Deathclaw."

Returning her thoughts to the puzzle in front of her, the former Vault Dweller quickly deduced that most important numbers in the string were the prime numbers; with a few taps of the keys, she'd acquired what seemed to be one third of a code.

"The lunar lander exhibit is on the other side of the building," Dare explained, tapping on a section of the map. "With the building being mostly collapsed, though, we'll have to go through most of the exhibits before we can reach it. If we move fast, it shouldn't take us more than ten minutes."

With Clover taking point, they swept through the museum halls, bypassing the exhibits and any salvage on their way to the lunar section. The white-haired woman paused at the next door, cocking her head as she faintly heard the rough voices of Super Mutants beyond. "Muties," she muttered to Dare, Dogmeat softly whining in agreement.

The Sniper nodded. "Amata, take the left side of the door; Clover, the right. Katie, spin up while Clover kicks down the door and lay down suppressive fire while I follow you and pick them off." He waited a moment for the ladies to get into position before patting the blonde on the shoulder, her minigun spinning up with a whine.

Clover kicked the door open, rolling back as the blonde former Vault Dweller stepped into the room and opened fire, taking a pair of Super Mutants across the room by surprise. As she peppered them with rounds, Dare lined up a shot with his sniper and double-tapped one of the pair in the head. The mutants fell and Katie let up, scanning the room for more threats. "That's all in here," she said, letting the barrels of her minigun point at the floor. "I doubt that's all of them, though."

Clover took the lead again as they headed up a set of stairs leading into a large display of life in a Vault, complete with mannequins and pre-recorded messages. "Is this what life looked like underground?" The former slave asked, peering into the exhibit of a family at the dinner table. "I mean, it looks safe and all, but kinda…tight."

"More or less," Katie shrugged, her ammo pack rattling. She tilted her head as the message proudly announced that Vaults would feature 'self-cleaning floors!' "Except for that part. We had to clean the damn floors every month. More often if you got in trouble, like I did."

Exiting the display, they came upon a tall room with the central feature being a rocket knocked slightly ajar on its stand…along with a pair of Super Mutants on the floor below. Clover cursed rifle rounds impacted her armor, stumbling as she dove out of the way. Dare armed himself with his SMG and blindly sprayed rounds over his cover, listening as a mutant growled in pain and cursed him.

"Stupid human! Take that!" Something small and round flew over their heads, bouncing off the ground with a metallic clink at Amata's feet.

There was a instant of stunned disbelief before the brunette snatched the grenade up and wildly chucked it into the air, exploding just as Dare dove on her. Amata groaned as the ringing in her ears subsided, shaking her head and opening her eyes to find the sniper above her with concern on his stoic features. "You alright?" he asked over the chatter of gunfire, pushing himself off and offering her a hand.

Amata grimaced slightly as a stinging pain made itself known on her face, taking the hand and allowing him to haul her up. "I'm fine, it's just a scratch," she answered, shouldering her laser rifle and loosing a pair of burning bolts at the mutants below, carving a hole through one of their heads.

Roaring, the remaining mutant fired wildly at the group above, taking the fallen's weapon in one hand to rain bullets at them. It didn't see the low, grey form darting around the chunk of rubble it was using for cover, but it definitely felt it when Dogmeat latched onto its ankle and savagely yanked.

Seeing the distraction, the group above unloaded into the mutant below and it fell a second later, dead. Barely a second passed before Katie dropped her minigun and seized her best friend by the shoulders, frantically checking her for injuries. "Are you okay?! Are you hurt?! Do you need a Stimpak?!"

Amata batted her hands away, flushing slightly at the attention. "I'm alright, Katie, Jesus! I'd know if I was injured, I'm the medic!" She smiled at her oldest friend. "It could've been a lot worse, though, if Dare hadn't covered me."

The former Vault Dwellers looked at the Sniper as Clover fussed over him as Katie had done a few seconds earlier, smiling warmly as he reassured the former slave. Then they realized their shared expression, sharing a puzzled look before narrowing their eyes at each other. "Hm?" Katie grunted, arching an eyebrow.

"Hm." Amata returned with a challenging nod.

The blonde bit her lip in thought, shaking her head slowly. "…Later," she muttered, her eyes softening. "I'm glad you're alright, though."

The brunette nodded. "Me too." Their conversation finished, they joined the other two as they descended the steps to meet a happily panting Dogmeat sitting next to the mutants. "Good boy, Dogmeat, good boy."

"This one took a bit more punishment than the others," Katie noted, poking the other body with a toe, observing the metal armor decorating its form.

"Yeah, it's a brute," Clover replied, "It's a little bigger, a little bit smarter and little bit tougher than the regular ones."

"And they only get worse from here," Dare added, policing the remaining assault rifle rounds from the bodies. "The lander is only two more exhibits away, let's keep moving."

As they passed through the next door, Clover slowed to a stop, tilting her head back to look up at the stars and galaxies splayed across the ceiling. "…Wow," she murmured, her brown eyes wide and slightly wet. "Wouldya look at that?"

"It's pretty nice," Katie conceded, her eyes briefly sweeping the star-scattered sky. "I like the real thing better, though."

"Eh, whatever," the former slave grunted, crossing the concrete floor to kick open the door to the Virgo II exhibit.

Part of the ceiling had collapsed in next to the lander, though it had done no damage to the bulbous machine itself, thankfully, and the dish itself was in workable condition. Dare approached the lander, withdrawing his tools and getting to work on removing the dish. "Katie, can you help me with this?" He asked, the blonde setting her minigun aside and stepping up to the lander.

As they worked, Amata read the plague next to the display. "On July 16th, 1969, the Valiant 11 made contact with the lunar surface, carrying a crew of Captain Richard Wade, Captain Mark Garris and Captain Michael Hagen, who became the first human beings to walk on a celestial body besides the Earth itself." For a moment, the former Vault Dweller allowed herself to feel pity for her species. Once, they reached up touched the stars themselves…now, they'd be lucky if it ever happened again.

With a grunt, Dare and Katie pulled the dish loose, strapping it to the blondes back for transportation. "Oh crap," Katie muttered, checking the time on her Pip-boy. "It's five! We gotta hurry if we want to win!"

With Dogmeat on their heels, they charged through the empty museum, flying passed the exhibits and the front desk to burst out onto the Mall, the echoing retorts of gunfire and explosions serving as a harsh reminder that they were in a war-zone. "Dare, what's the plan?" Amata asked, her mouth suddenly dry as she looked upon the mutant-filled trenches.

"Katie, Clover, you lead the way, Amata and I will watch your backs and provide supporting fire!" He ordered, making for the trenches but pausing as he noticed something. "Wait," Drawing his sniper rifle, he scoped in on an unusual sight; a Super Mutant, slightly bigger than the two metal-clad Brutes, was looking through a pair of binoculars at the Washington Monument and shouting at the mutants below. "Shit. A Master."

"A what?" Amata asked.

"A Super Mutant Master," Dare repeated, narrowing his eyes as his mind raced. "One that's leading the attack. Change of plans; Clover and I will take point and try to take out as many as we can quietly. Then, we'll grenade the master's position until it's weakened enough to pick it off or it gets blown to pieces."

With that said, the Sniper set his sniper on his back and drew Red Empress, dropping into the trench with Clover at his side. Although her heavy metal armor was far from stealthy, the constant gunfire hid the clanking well and the two of them had no problem sneaking up on a pair of Super Mutants, one fiddling with a minigun while the other knocked on a rocket launcher with a hammer.

"Stupid metal humans!" One growled, "Why don't they die faster?!"

At his wave, Clover crept around the back of one mutant while Dare took aim with his pistol, firing twice into the neck of his target, followed by a double-tap to the back of the head. Her shotgun barked twice and the mutants' head exploded, the corpse collapsing to the dirt a second later. The two of them continued on ahead while Katie took the ammo from the minigun and hefted the rocket launcher onto her shoulder, securing the rockets themselves in her belt.

The Sniper silenced another mutant before climbing up out of the trenches behind a pair taking pot-shots at the Knights, dropping behind a wall of sandbags to reload before popping out again. Using the last four bullets in his magazine, Dare felled one while Clover killed the other, leaving them a free sight-line of the Super Mutant Master shouting orders. Waiting a second for the former Vault Dwellers to catch up, he extracted a pair of frag grenades from his pouches with the former slave following his lead, while Katie took aim with the launcher and Amata armed herself with a plasma grenade.

Pulling the pins, Dare nodded to the others. "Now!" he barked, standing up and hurling his grenades one after the other. The heavy-weapons enthusiast squinted an eye shut and fired a second later, the rocket hissing through the air to explode at the master's feet just as the grenades went off.

In a blossom of orange and green flames, the explosives detonated, sending bloody chunks fountaining twenty feet into the air and expressly stating to the mutants that they were under attack. By someone other than the Brotherhood.

"No time for subtlety!" Katie shouted, jumping back down and spinning her gun up as a crowd of mutants, drawn by the lack of orders, came to investigate. Laying down a withering field of fire, she stepped forward slowly, riddling mutant after mutant with bullets until it fell and Clover finished it off with her shotgun.

After a nearly thirty seconds of sustained fire, her minigun spun to a stop and she cursed aloud, hurrying to remove the empty box of ammunition, Clover stepping forward to hold them off. Lasers scorched the air between them and Katie took a scant second to glance behind her at Amata and Dare emptying their weapons into the mutants, their eyes strobing from the muzzle-flash and the dim light of the trenches.

"Reloaded!" Katie called, once more opening up on the Super Mutants screaming ahead of them.

As they moved through the trenches, Dare and Amata hung back to finish off any of the mutants they may have missed when an enraged Brute smashed through a wooden door, charging into the humans and knocking them off their feet. It lashed out and seized the sniper by his pack, nearly pulling him into the air before he slipped out of the straps, hitting the ground and immediately springing back up with his knife drawn.

Dare lunged forward, slipping under a flailing arm to latch onto the mutant's back, driving his blade down at the mutant's neck. The yellow-green humanoid shook itself, the knife embedding into the flesh just above its collarbone and shrugged its shoulders, flipping the sniper overhead to land in the dirt and swinging at him with a Super Sledge.

Dare rolled onto his feet, jumping back as the head of tech-enhanced hammer grazed the armor on his chest before springing forward, stabbing at its eye…only for the hilt to bounce off the mutant's eye socket, leaving him with just enough time to realize that the worn blade had snapped off and was still embedded in the mutant's chest. The second of stunned realization cost him as the Brute back-handed him across the face, bringing its Sledge down and around to slam into Dare's chest.

The sniper heard several bones snap, his breath driven from his body as the force of the impact pitched him up over the trenches to land in the dirt, his eyes wide in pain and surprise as he stared up at the early-evening sky.

It felt like giant hand was wrapped around his chest, crushing his lungs with a grip of solid steel as he silently gasped for air. A crunch heralded the arrival of the sneering Brute as it stepped up to him, taking its hammer in both hands. Dare scrabbled for his holster, barely drawing Justice just as the Super Mutant brought its Super Sledge over its head for a killing blow.

A shot rang out, blood erupting from the mutant's neck. It froze mid-swing, hammer slipping out of nerveless fingers as it collapsed to his left, beady jaundiced eyes rolling in agony and rage. Dare found their gazes locking, the mutant silently mouthing incoherent threats until he emptied two magnum rounds into its forehead. With a wheeze, he found his breath once more, but the searing pain drove it back out again.

"Dare!" Amata cried, dropping his sniper rifle and rushing to his side, one hand fumbling at her medical pouches while the other gently reached out to touch his chest. She gasped as her fingers easily sunk into his ribs, noting the short, sharp, shallow breath. "Omigod Dare, your ribs are collapsed! You need to take a deep breath, to force them back into place!"

The sniper grit his teeth and steeled himself, sharply sucking in a breath, his skin paling as his chest reinflated with a sickening crunch. Finally able to breathe normally, Dare rolled his head to look up at Amata, her hazel eyes glistening with frightened tears as she tugged at the flattened metal plates on his chest. His eyes slipped past her face to look at the air behind her, widening before he shoved her aside and unloaded two rounds into a regular Super Mutant encroaching upon them with a nail board in its hands.

The mutant staggered back from the shots, its head jerking as a third bullet pierced through its eye and out the back of its head, the body tumbling back down into the trenches.

Amata gaped at the space the mutant had occupied, turning back to find Dare giving her a pained smile. Something warm and sticky clawed at her chest as Amata returned the smile and slipped a syringe of Med-X into his chest, followed by a Stimpak. "I can't fix you up here, but this should get you back up for now," she said, standing and offering a hand to the down sniper. She nearly fell onto him as Dare took her hand and pulled, sharply reminding her of the size and weight difference between the two of them.

Sharing a quiet chuckle, the medic helped him to his feet, letting him lean on her as she directed them back into the trenches to follow the trail of bodies and pick up the weapons he'd dropped in the struggle. As they walked, Dare felt the medicine going to work and in less than a minute, he was walking unaided, though he winced every once in awhile. "Seems like they've cleared the mutants out," the sniper muttered, noting the absence of gunfire.

"Good," Amata sighed, scratching the back of her neck tiredly. "I think we've had enough excitem-" A gunshot rang out and she crumpled to the ground with a pained cry.

"Stupid humans!" A Super Mutant, heavily wounded and holding a hunting rifle in one hand, screamed as it dragged itself towards them. "Hate you! Hate you SO MUCH!"

Dare whipped around, pulling Justice from his holster and pulling the trigger twice the instant the barrel was clear. His revolver barked once but clicked the second, the sniper hurriedly tucking the gun into the crook of his elbow as the mutant staggered to its feet, the growled threats slightly muffled as it tried to cycle the bolt of its hunting rifle with its teeth.

Dare drew Red Empress and shot the mutant twice, once in both eyes. And after it fell, he shot it twice more, just to make sure. Seeing the body remain still, the sniper sighed and allowed himself to relax, wincing slightly. "Ow. My ribs." Bending slightly, he offered his hand to Amata. "You alright?"

The former Vault Dweller gasped, taking his hand and pulling herself up, examining the armor plate that had taken the round. "I'm fine, but that's definitely going to bruise," Amata grumbled, peeling the flattened slug off of her armor and flicking it away. "Ow, my ribs."

"Dare! Amata! Where the hell'd you go?!" Clover's voice echoed through the trench. "The muties are dead! Hurry up!"

They began to walk at a slightly slower pace, and as they got closer to the monument, a pair of Knights passed them by, checking and looting the bodies for ammunition. While it was impossible to see their faces behind their helmets, the Knights gave them a polite nod and continued on, the two Wastelanders climbing out of the trench before the Washington Monument.

Clover was leaning against a sandbag wall, idly playing with an empty can while Katie fussed over her minigun and Dogmeat was having his ears scratched by a power-armored Knight. "We need access to the monument," Dare said in lieu of greetings. "We've got the replacement dish for Three Dog."

"Go on in," the Knight replied cheerfully, still enthusiastically petting Dogmeat. "Paladin Lyons radioed ahead to let us know you'd be coming."

The sniper nodded and headed through the checkpoint, the girls falling in behind him as they entered the monument. "What kept you guys?" Katie asked, eyeing the two of them warily. "We were all moving forward and then the next second you were gone."

"Apparently, there's a bunker in the trenches," Dare replied, rolling his shoulders and wincing slightly. "No one saw the door, so when a mutant ambushed us, we were caught completely by surprise. I managed to stab it once, but my knife broke and it got a good hit on me."

Amata stared at him, speaking up when he didn't continue. "A 'good hit' from a Super Sledge," she added incredulously. "You flew ten feet through the air! Your chest was caved-in!"

"My armor absorbed most of the impact," the sniper replied with a blithe shrug, picking at the metal plate on his chest. A portion of it snapped off with a sharp sound. "I'll need a replacement."

"Are you alright?" Clover asked softly, her hand coming up to grip his elbow.

"I'm fine," Dare assured her, patting her hand gently. "A Stimpak or two and a good night's rest are all I need."

"Christ, Dare, I think you need better armor," Katie groaned, concern thick in her voice. "Next time, just stick close me. I mean us. Me and Clover."

"I got shot," Amata chimed in, not bothering to hide a glare. "My armor took the hit though, and the most I'll have is a bruise."

"Well that's what you have armor for, isn't it?" The blonde replied dryly, arching an eyebrow at her oldest friend. "I nearly got blown up." She pointed at her shoulder, the armor missing and the area around it scorched.

Amata huffed but said nothing more, and the ride up to the top of the monument was done in silence. Once at the top, Dare unstrapped the dish from Katie's back and carried it to the window where a mounting was secured to the outside of the monument. "Grab my coat, please," he said, stepping up on the sill with his tools, leaning out slightly as Katie grabbed the back of his coat securely.

Within a minute, the Sniper had the dish firmly in place, stepping back inside and flipping the switch on a generator. The machine hummed loudly, lights flickering across the terminal next to it, before settling into a quiet rhythm.

Smiling at their success, Katie activated a ham radio nearby and tested the microphone. "Three Dog, you there?"

"This is the Galaxy News Radio front desk, how can I direct your call?" The radio host answered sarcastically, letting out a boisterous laugh a second later. "No need to tell me, I got lights shinin' all over my studio! Great job, kiddos, and look at that, it ain't even sunset yet. Come on back and I'll give you the cache location."

"We're going to hang around here for a little while, actually," Katie replied, "We'll be around that way tomorrow I think."

"Whatever floats your boat, kiddo!" Three Dog said cheerfully. "Many thanks and all that, but I got a broadcast to make. Say hello to all the shiny Knights at the Monument, willya? See ya around, Three Dog out!"

The former Vault Dweller shut the ham radio off, turning to look at the rest of her little group. "Now what?"

Dare shrugged. "Now, we go back to the Museum of Technology and salvage what we can, then stop by Underworld and see if we can't get some beds for the night. I've got a friend there, I think they'll let us in."

"Nuh-uh," Amata wagged a finger at the Sniper, "We're not going anywhere until I treat your wounds, Dare. And don't tell me it looked worse than it is, I felt it, and I know what broken ribs feel like."

Dare simply sighed and nodded, hanging up his duster and peeling the leather armor off, then removing the shirt underneath that. Quiet hisses came from the ladies as his bare chest was revealed, covered in a mass of dark purple and red, thin lines of dried blood showing the points where his armor had dug into his skin. "How are you still walking around?" Katie asked incredulously, tentatively reaching out to poke the massive bruise. Clover slapped her hand away with an incredulous look and the blonde gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry. But still, how?"

The sniper shrugged. "I'm tough," he replied simply, unable to hide a wince at the gesture.

Amata knelt in front of him with a Stimpak, using one up by injecting the regenerative medicine into his ribs and emptying another into his sternum. "You really shouldn't be up and moving, you know," she sighed, adding a bit of Med-X to the wound. "But you aren't going to sit still, are you?"

"A night of sleep," Dare repeated slowly, "And I'll be fine. I appreciate the concern and the medicine especially, but I've been smacked around my entire life. Don't worry about it."

The brunette grunted in acquiescence, putting her tools away as the sniper pulled his top back on and they took the elevator down. "You said you almost got blown up?" She said after a minute of silence, turning to look at Katie.

"Oh, yeah!" The blonde replied, snapping her fingers in remembrance. "It's something I wanted to show you, actually. One of the mutants was carrying a grenade launcher, which is kinda weird. I mean, I've seen rocket launchers and a Fat Man, but I haven't seen one of these yet."

"They're fairly rare around here," Dare commented as they stepped out of the monument, finding the Knight from before still scratching a happily panting Dogmeat, but was now also making kissy noises. Upon noticing them, he froze, getting a quiet whine from the dog.

Amata coughed awkwardly while Clover chuckled loudly, making the Knight hurriedly stand up and scratch the back of his helmet awkwardly. "Uh, just wanted to let you know that we, that is, all of us here at the monument, appreciate what you did for us and the danger you were in. So, I'm fully prepared to sponsor all of your entries into the Brotherhood, if you want." He paused in thought. "Oh, and also your pick of the salvage from the muties. What do you say?"

The quartet traded looks. "You're welcome," Katie spoke up, giving the Knight a rueful smile, "and while being in the Brotherhood and getting some sweet Power Armor sounds awesome, it's just not something we can do right now. So thanks, but no thanks."

"Alright, no problem," the Knight shrugged. "If you ever change your minds, head over to the Citadel and let 'em know Paladin Berrings sent you."

"Thanks," Dare nodded, picking up his weapons and setting them in their places. He paused, noticing the tubular rifle Katie was carrying. "Katie. Can I see that?"

"Sure," the blonde replied, tossing the grenade launcher to him and hefting her minigun onto her shoulders.

The sniper opened the breach, ejecting the spent shell into his hand and examining the scorched numbers. "40 millimeter grenades," he mumbled, looking up. "Beside the one that got shot at you, did the mutant carry any grenades?"

Katie held up a small bandolier with six grenades in it. "Yeah, a few. You want 'em?"

Dare shrugged. "If you don't mind." He caught the tossed grenades and loaded one into the chamber while storing the rest in a pouch. With the armor underneath his duster, plus the pack on his back, the multiple pouches along his belt plus the SMG strap over his shoulder, with Red Empress at the small of his back, Justice in the holster on his thigh with his sniper rifle slung on his back, Dare was starting to feel a bit like an overburdened idiot.

"We'll be back sometime to tomorrow to grab some salvage, if you don't mind," Katie told the Paladin.

"No problem," he nodded, giving Dogmeat one last petting. "Muties aren't much for medicine and the like, but there'll be plenty of ammo."

Clicking his tongue, Dare summoned Dogmeat and the quartet set off for the museum, walking through the now-quiet National Mall. Once inside, Amata headed for the terminal on the wall, refreshing her memory of where the next in the set was. "I found some message from a raider called Prime to a raider called Jiggs," she explained, leading the group through the exhibit known as 'The Hall of Yesterday,' passed the skeleton and spacesuit of some important guy. "The code wasn't cracked when I took a look at it, so I think there might some loot left around here."

Heading into the Vault display, Amata found the next terminal with a stained book titled Nikola Tesla and You, putting it in her pack to peruse later. As she got to work cracking the next message, the others began pilfering the displays for any goods. "Hey look, they actually put stuff in the fridges and cupboards!" Katie called with a laugh, pulling a few boxes of salisbury steak and mashed potatoes out of the cupboards before opening the fridge. "Fridge doesn't work, but the soda's still good. Clover!"

The white-haired woman turned to the former Vault Dweller, catching the bottle of Nuka-Cola tossed to her and the one after that. Turning, she whistled at the sniper and passed two along, getting another from Katie that she cracked open and drained half of it in one go. "Just the thing after a long day in the Wasteland," she sighed, rolling her shoulders. "Hey, is that vodka? Pass it over, I wanna add some to my cola."

Dare took a sip of his soda as he walked over to Amata, knocking a bottle against her shoulder before setting it next to the terminal. "Got it yet?"

"Just about," she replied distantly, tapping in one final line and hitting the enter, getting a satisfying little ding from the terminal. "Yes! Got it. Apparently the next one's near the rocket."

"That's good, I thought I saw a few locked doors over that way," the sniper commented, "We've just about picked this place clean, so let's head over that way."

The brunette uncapped her soda and took a deep, refreshing gulp. "Sounds good," she sighed, rubbing Dogmeat's head affectionately. "I thought I saw some Pip-boys along the way. Maybe we can pick them up for you and Clover? Then we can all use VATS and won't have to carry a map around everywhere."

"That would be nice," Dare admitted, privately wondering how some strange technology like VATS would affect his Sniper's Mind. As they entered 'The Hall of Tomorrow,' they found the displays containing weapons had been broken-into. "Huh. X277 "Viper" magnetic rail cannon."

"Magnetic?" Amata asked with interest, just as Katie popped up with "Cannon?"

"This," the sniper waved at the empty case, "is, apparently, the only known prototype Magnetic Rail Cannon. It was too expensive to produce, so it was discontinued."

"Aww," the former Vault Dwellers said simultaneously. "So unless we stumble across some super-secret military bunker, we're never gonna find one of those things," Katie sighed. "Dammit."

Continuing on, they found the display of Pip-boys, which turned to actually be Stealth Boys instead. "These are quite a bit larger than the others I've found," Dare noted, pulling one out of his pouch to compare. Side-by-side, the displayed Stealth Boy was about twice as large. "Are these just for display purposes?" He wondered aloud, pressing the button that activated the twice, quickly hitting it again as the Stealth Boy flickered. "Nope. Well, you never know when a big invisibility device will come in handy."

Entering the wing containing the rocket, Planetarium and lunar lander, Amata peeled off to find the third terminal while Dare scaled the walkway to get to a partially blocked-off room. Within a few seconds, he'd unlocked the door and entered the office, finding a broken terminal on a desk next to a copy of Guns and Bullets, with a small fridge to the left of the both.

"Find anything?" Katie called.

"A magazine, some purified water and a couple of Nuka-Colas!" He called back, noticing the trash basket full of empty cola bottles, he popped open the drawers of the desk and nodded to himself when he found a bunch of caps left inside.

"Which magazine?"

"Guns and Bullets!"

"I call dibs!"

"Finders keepers!" Dare shouted back, chuckling to himself as he gathered everything together. Exiting the room, he found Katie standing next to a bouncing Amata, with Dogmeat and Clover nowhere in sight.

"Dare, I hacked the last terminal! It gave the password for the security office!" The brunette former Vault Dweller called, smiling widely.

"Good job," he replied calmly, dropping down to the floor next to them. "Where's Clover?"

"In the Planetarium," Katie shrugged, heading that way with the others following. Inside, they found the projector slowly spinning with Clover sitting on a bench, her helmet off as she leaned back to stare up at the ceiling. Dogmeat was lying down beside her, occasionally licking her hand. "Hey Clover, we-"

"Shh," the former slave shushed them quietly, not looking away from the projected stars.

"Go ahead," Dare whispered, nudging them towards the office. "I'll stay here with her."

Nodding, the two continued while the sniper climbed the benches and settled down next to Clover, grunting quietly as he sore ribs stretched. A moment later, she reached over and clasped his hand in hers, silent tears running from her eyes.

After a few minutes of silence, Dare finally spoke. "Clover," he began softly, squeezing her hand. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head silently. "Back when," Clover croaked, pausing to clear her throat. "Back when I was…when I was…not me, I remember looking up at the stars. I remember wishing…wishing with all my heart that something, anything, would come down and set me free. Whether it was someone coming to take me away, or some asshole god smiting me out of life, I just…I just wanted to go. And then I'd get called back in, and I'd forget all about it."

The sniper sighed softly, nuzzling the top of her head as she leaned against his shoulder. "…I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" She asked, puzzled.

"Before all this, I was traveling with a caravan. We were ambushed by slavers, and I got knocked out. It was only the intervention from a stranger that saved me, but everyone else was either dead or gone." He frowned. "It was only luck that I survived. But I did, and I made plans to find the rest and set them free. But I lost track of that goal. I went around, doing odd jobs for Moira, salvaging the area, and I even helped Silver. It was month later when I realized that I was living free and happy while people, people I'd been friends with, people I'd traveled with for more than year, were suffering."

Dare sighed, rubbing his face tiredly. "After scouting the place for a week, gathering everything I needed to get in there, what happened when I got to the front gate? The door was thrown open and Carter came sprinting out of there, and there was just enough time for us to recognize each other. And then his head exploded."

Clover winced, but said nothing.

"And when I got inside, I saw Frank at the bar, some fucker in metal armor shouting at him. I knew Frank. He was good man. Stubborn, too, and that's why that bastard smashed his skull in with a Super Sledge." The sniper growled deep in his chest, making Dogmeat whine warily. "I was late. I was too fucking late to save either of them. If I had been faster, just a day faster, they'd both be alive. And I don't even know what happened to the rest of them. Frank had a wife and a daughter traveling with him, and they weren't at Paradise Falls. I…I don't know what happened to them, but I can imagine."

"Why were apologizing to me, though?" Clover clarified, bringing his hand up to her chest and holding it.

"Maybe if I'd been quicker, if I hadn't dallied so much…maybe I could've saved you too," he murmured painfully, sighing deeply. He expected anger, maybe some sadness, but not the laugh that bubbled out of the white-haired woman. Gazing at her, Dare's visage went blank. "Why's that funny?"

"No, no, no," she gasped, patting his cheek even as she laughed. "Dare, I was at Paradise Falls for at least a year. A month…would've done exactly nothing for me."

The sniper frowned. "And how's that funny?" He asked lowly.

"It's not," Clover replied, wiping a tear of mirth away. "It's just, you're feeling all guilty about me, even though you literally did nothing to make things worse for me, and it just…I just remembered how lucky I am to have you."

Smiling slightly, Dare leaned over and kissed her gently. "I'm lucky to have you, too," he murmured, nuzzling her nose.

She paused, pulling back slightly. "You know they like you, right?" She said suddenly.

"I know," he replied simply. "I've taught them how to survive, we've been in combat and we've saved each others lives. It's natural some kind of attraction would form. Why do you bring it up?"

"You know I don't care if you start something with them, right?" Clover continued, nudging his shoulder. "You don't need my permission or anything like that."

Dare narrowed his eyes shrewdly. "Is this a continuation of the whole 'you feel like you don't deserve me' crap?" He asked bluntly.

"Yeah," the former slave nodded. "To be honest, I'd prefer it if you started something with 'em. Maybe they'll stop being so bitchy."

"I'll think about it," he muttered, leaning back to look up at the star-speckled ceiling, only for the subjects of the conversation to come back into the room.

"Guess what we found?" Katie asked, hefting an extra rocket launcher on her shoulder. "A missile launcher, some missiles and a couple of pulse mines, along with a note for that Jiggs guy. It said he'd earned his share of the loot and to come meet that Prime guy at some diner a few miles away. Might be worth looking into."

"But also," Amata chimed in, "The terminal the last code was on had a list of exhibits and the fact there's three fusion generators in the basement. There's power armor, laser weapons, antique weapons and things like that."

Dare nodded agreeably. "Definitely worth looking into," he said, before pointing at a the door leading to the basement. "Only problem is, that's the door to the basement."

Most of the surrounding wall had crushed inward, leaving the metal door a twisted hunk of scrap. "So?" Katie shrugged. "We find another door. It's big building, there's no way there's only one door to the basement."

"Fair enough," the sniper nodded. "But do you want to do that tonight? And more importantly, does anyone know how to use power armor?"

The former Vault Dwellers exchanged shrugs. "What's so complicated about wearing armor?" Amata asked, tapping her combat armor. "I'm doing it right now."

"It's powered armor," Dare clarified. "It's a powerful piece of equipment, but it also requires training to use safely."

"How do you know?" Katie asked, her hands on her hips. "Have you used it before?"

"No, I'm a sniper, what would I need power armor for?" He replied with an incredulous look. "But a lot of people in the NCR have had dealings with the Brotherhood on the West Coast. A couple of people died trying to use power armor untrained."

"Alright, alright," the blonde acquiesced. "We'll wait to grab the armor, but we can still grab the lasers, right?"

"Sure."

…

An hour later, they exited the Museum of Technology and began to short trek to the Museum of History. Most of the hour had been spent looking for an entrance into the basement, while the rest had been spent with Katie squealing over the power armor while Amata did the same to the lasers on the display. There were only two, an older prototype and a normal version, but both had been taken for later.

A female ghoul leaned against the wall next to the door, smoking a cigarette and looking bored beyond belief, perking up when she saw them coming. "Hey, tourists," she greeted cheerfully. "Nice show ya put on there. Was kinda hopin' those power armored-assholes would lose a few more, but whatever."

"You got problems with the Brotherhood?" Dare asked curiously.

"Yeah, most don't like lookin' at us freaks, makes 'em uncomfortable." She jerked her chin at the two former Vault Dwellers. "Kinda like those smoothskins ya got with ya."

The sniper glanced at the fromer Vault Dwellers, who were staring at the ghoul. "…What are you?" Katie asked carefully.

"Imma ghoul, smoothskin," the woman huffed, taking a drag on her cigarette. "What, you ain't never seen one of us before?"

"Not one that wasn't trying to claw us to death," Amata replied, shaking her head. "Sorry about that."

"No problem. The name's Willow, by the way." the ghoul shrugged. "So, you wanna go inside? As long as you be respectful to us ghouls, you're can stay and trade. It's just about dinner time, too."

"Yeah, we're looking for a place to stay the night," Dare answered, following the woman inside. Before them, in the darkly-lit entrance, a stuffed mammoth and the partially-collapsed skeleton of a T-Rex flanked a marble gate with a giant skull carved above it. Just under the teeth was a sign reading 'Underworld."

"Well that's not ominous," Amata muttered.

"If you're looking for a place to sleep, Carol's Place is where you wanna go," Willow commented, "She's been in a good mood the last couple of weeks, you might get a discount."

Dare hummed thoughtfully. "Did Gob and Miss Jeanette make it here safely?"

"Yeah, that's why Carol's practically flyin'," the ghoul replied. "You know 'em?"

"We live in Megaton."

Stepping through the gate, the four travelers found their breath taken away. While there were chunks missing here and there, the interior was one of the best-kept they'd ever seen, with the possible exception of Tenpenny Tower. The floors were tiled with black and white, obsidian pillars crawling with the twisted forms of the damned. And further beyond those was a monolith, depicting desperate souls climbing out of a pit, reaching for the freedom of the sky.

"Nice place," Dare commented calmly.

"Yep," Willow said, puffing up proudly. "Carol's Place is upstairs to the right; on the left is the Ninth Circle, good place for drink if you ignore the asshole behind the counter. On the bottom left, there's Underworld Outfitters run by my pal, Tulip. And all the way at the back is Doc Barrow's little clinic, the Chop Shop."

"Thanks, Willow," the sniper replied, flipping a bottle cap to her. "We'll see you later."

"Sure thing, smoothskin!" The ghoul chuckled, giving them a ghastly smile and a nod.

Heading up the stairs, they came to a desk with a ghoul standing behind it, checking things off of a list. Without looking up, the ghoul greeted them. "Welcome to Carol's Place, I'll get you whatever you need in a sec."

"No hurry, Gob," Dare said, peering interestly at the painting on the pillar next to the desk. He couldn't tell what it was about, but it looked interesting.

Gob's head whipped up, dropping the clipboard as he gasped. "Buddy?" He asked in disbelief before a wide grin creased his face. "Buddy!" The ghoul vaulted over the counter and pulled the sniper into a warm if slightly squishy hug. "Oh man, it's so good to see you again! My sister will be so happy! Jeanette! Get out here!"

"What is it, Gobbie?" A rough, girlish voice called back. "Did you find some extra caps under the counter again?" A female ghoul dressed in a shirt and overalls paused as she came around the corner, gasping and clapping her hands to her mouth as she saw them there, Dare looking rather awkward with Gob's arm around his shoulders. "It's you!"

She rushed forward and wrapped the sniper in an even tighter and squishier hug. "I knew you'd come to visit, I knew it!" She squealed, bouncing excitedly. "I'm so-Gob! Momma needs to meet him! Carol, Momma! Come out here, you gotta meet someone!"

Farther down the hall, a door opened and a ghoul in a dress walked out, sighing as she slung a towel over her shoulder. "What is it, I just got the stew goin'? Did Gobbie find some more caps under the counter?" She paused upon looking up, noticing an increasingly uncomfortable-looking human flanked by Gob and Jeanette while three women stood off to the side, watching and snickering quietly. "Uh, what's going on? Why are you two man-handling a smoothskin?"

"This ain't no regular smoothskin, momma!" Gob replied proudly. "This is Dare, the one who set Jeannie and me free!"

The ghoul, Carol, arched what eyebrows she had left in surprise. "Really? The fella who shot the shit outta Paradise Falls and gave all the caps to the slaves?" At their nods, she gave a warm, slightly teary smile as she stepped forward hugged Dare tightly. "I can never thank you for what you've done for my babies," she whispered, pulling back and sniffing slightly. "As far as I'm concerned, you're family."

That said, she pressed a kiss to each of his cheeks and stepped back with a smile, Gob and Jeannette flanking her. "That's, uh…you're welcome?" Dare said awkwardly. "We uh, we wanted to rent a pair of rooms for the night."

"You're family, Dare!" Gob replied happily. "Family doesn't pay to stay!"

"What he said," Carol agreed, nodding her head firmly.

"There's four of us," the sniper frowned, looking down when Dogmeat tugged on his pant leg. "Five. It wouldn't be fair to deprive you of a profit. I insist on paying."

Jeanette nudged the older ghoul knowingly. "What'd I tell you?" She whispered, dropping to her knees to scratch the dog's ears. "Ooh, a puppy! Who's pretty boy?"

"Alright, alright, since you insist," Carol shook her head, glancing at the three women. "You can pay for the three of them, but I insist that you stay for free. That's my final offer. Also, dinner."

Clover nudged Dare from behind. "Just take the deal, Lover," she whispered. "Whatever she's cookin' smells good and I'm hungry enough to eat an arm."

Dare nodded grudgingly. "Alright, how much?"

"Twenty caps per person, per night," Gob rattled off, moving to stand behind the counter. He accepted the caps handed to him and stored them in cash draw with a cheerful flourish. "C'mon, I'll show to your rooms."

He took four steps around the corner and stopped, waving an arm at the two doors. "Here ya are! Dinner's in…when's dinner, Momma?" He asked Carol.

"Just about twenty minutes," the older ghoul replied warmly. "You're all welcome to come and join us."

"Sounds lovely," Katie smiled, waving as the trio of ghouls stepped away, still smiling. "Well that was weird."

"Tell me about it," Dare breathed, shaking his head. "Anyways, Clover and I will take one room, and you two can-"

"Actually," Amata cut in, "I'd like to keep an eye on you, just in case your injury flares up."

The sniper paused and glanced at Clover, who nodded. "Alright, sure," he acquiesced with a shrug. "Let's get settled in before…family dinner time."

The rooms themselves were also well-kept, featuring a queen-sized bed, a plinth with a bowl next to a mirror, and a small bathroom. Hanging his duster up, Dare set his pack and weapons down by the bed and peeled his leather armor off, tossing it on top of his pack and stretching his arms above his head.

Amata unstrapped her combat armor and set it aside with her pack, leaving her in a white shirt that was stained with sweat and grime. "What a long day," she sighed, flopping down next to Dare. "My ribs hurt and I stink like a brahmin."

"If you want to heat up some water, I've got soap," the sniper offered. "I don't exactly smell the freshest easier."

"Tell me about it," Amata grumped, scrunching her nose in disgust before breaking out into giggles. "Oh my god, we could've died so many times today. And somehow, I'm laughing about it."

"We survived," Dare shrugged. "That's worth a few chuckles, I think. It's either laughing or crying about it, and laughter is infinitely better."

The brunette tilted her head at him. "What about you? You aren't laughing or crying."

"Oh believe me," he nodded solemnly, "I'm crying on the inside."

Amata stared at him for a few long seconds, not sure if he was joking or not until he smiled. "You almost had me there," she laughed, shaking her head before looking up at him with glittering hazel eyes. "You have a nice smile, you know. You should show it more often."

Dare arched an eyebrow at her. "I have been," he said simply. "I've had a lot to be satisfied about, these last few months."

"'Few months,'" the former Vault Dweller groaned, covering her eyes. "It feels like it's been years since we left the Vault."

It was Dare's turn to tilt his head curiously. "Do you regret it?" He asked, getting a questioning look from Amata. "Leaving the Vault. They're confining, yes, but they're generally safer than the Wasteland. Generally."

Amata sighed, half-shrugging. "A little bit, yeah. But on the whole…no. Not at all."

"That's good," he nodded, rolling his neck from side to side. "I heard a bit about the situation in 101. You could've gone back at anytime, but you didn't. That speaks of the strength of your character."

The brunette flushed, smiling shyly as she rubbed the back of her neck. "…Thanks," she murmured, tentatively leaning her head against his shoulder. When he made no move to brush her off, she relaxed against him with a sigh.

A few minutes of comfortable silence passed when someone rapped on the door. "Dare? Dinner's just about ready, if you want to join us," Gob spoke through the door.

Dare groaned quietly, hanging his head. "Be right out," he called back, pinching his nose in frustration.

"What's wrong? You don't like them?" Amata asked softly. "I think it's sweet."

"It's not them, it's their attitude," the sniper huffed, scratching his cheek awkwardly. "They're…treating me like a hero. Practically worshipping me. It's a bit disquieting."

"I think 'worshipping' is a bit of a stretch," the brunette replied. "But why wouldn't they treat you like a hero? You are. You set them both free and let them go home to their loving mother."

"Yeah, I know, but still…" Dare sighed. "Well, might as well get it over with. Are you coming?"

Amata nodded and joined him heading out of the room where Gob was waiting for them with a smile. "This way, buddy," he said, leading them down the hall as Katie and Clover stepped out of their room, out of their armor and looking a bit more relaxed.

The kitchens were fairly large, with about twelve burners and three ovens, a large sink and a medium-sized table set for ten, with steaming bowls of stew and bread to go with it. "Smells great," Dare complimented, sitting down at the far end from Carol, who was sitting next to another female ghoul wearing a pink sundress.

"Oh it's nothing special," Carol waved him off with a smile. "If I'd known you'd be coming, I would've made my special grilled jubilee."

"A nice, home-cooked meal sounds perfect after the day we've had," Katie said politely, sitting down next to an empty chair.

"Oh? Rough time?" Jeanette said, taking a bite out of her bread.

"I'll say," Willow spoke up, entering the room with another female ghoul, taking up the seat next to Katie. "I saw 'em plow through the gaggle of Super Mutants outside."

"Not just that," Amata added thickly, speaking around a mouthful of stew. "We left Megaton this morning, traveled to Rivet City, traveled back up Galaxy News Radio, got in a fight with a Behemoth, traveled to the Mall, looted the Museum of Technology, cleared out the trenches in front of the Washington Monument, then we came here."

There was a stunned silence, broken by Clover muttering, "And now I feel really tired."

"Wow," Carol said after a minute. "That is quite the long day."

The four humans nodded tiredly, Dogmeat preoccupied with cleaning his own bowl. "So, Dare, buddy, what've you been up to?" Gob asked after a few minutes of eating.

"Not much," Dare replied with a shrug. "Clearing raiders here and there, doing some work for Moira, teaching these two," he gestured at Amata and Katie with his spoon. "That's about it."

The other ghoul sat up suddenly, staring at Dare as if she'd just seen him. "Dare?" She asked incredulously, looking at the other ghouls. "That Dare?"

Gob nodded proudly. "Yup!"

The sniper swallowed uncomfortably. "Hi."

The ghoul smiled at him. "Nice to meet you, I'm Tulip, I run the general store downstairs. Whatever you need, I'll give it to you at a discount for setting Jeanette free."

Dare nodded shortly. "Thanks."

With that, the conversation settled down into almost painfully normal dialogue as the ghouls talked about what they'd done that day, which was mostly waiting around, cleaning or fixing things. "You don't get a lot of visitors here?" Amata asked interestedly.

"Nah, most smoothskins don't like tradin' with us, like they think ghoulification is contagious or somethin'," Tulip answered, shrugging her shoulders. "Most of the trading caravans don't care, though, so we do good business with them. Although, there is that smoothskin at Doc Barrows."

"She still out of it?" Jeanette questioned, looking up from her half-empty bowl.

"Yeah," Tulip replied with a shake of her head. "That lady's been out of it for three days now."

Amata looked up in interest, resolving to take a look at it the next day. Within a few minutes, they humans had finished their food. "Thank you for dinner," she said, standing up from the table, "but I think it's time we all got some rest."

"Of course!" Carol smiled warmly. "It was nice to have some more friendly faces at the dinner table. I hope you'll join us again."

They managed to leave, but not before Dare received a hug each from Gob, Jeanette and Carol. "Good night Clover, Katie," the sniper nodded, kissing the white-haired woman on the cheek then doing the same to the blonde when she pointed at herself and grunted insistently.

Amata said her good nights and followed him into their room, pausing and spinning on her heel as she huffed, "I forgot to get hot water, I'll be back in a minute."

Now alone, Dare peeled his shirt off and bundled it into the sink, pouring cold water over it while adding a bit of Abraxo and giving it a scrub. After that, he did the same to his pants, hanging them up in the bathroom to dry. While they weren't clean, his clothes were still cleaner than before and that would make them a little more comfortable to wear tomorrow.

With sigh, he flopped down on the bed, breathing deeply as he stared up at the chipped ceiling, casting his mind forward to the next day. He paused as something twinged inside of him, reaching down to pat the mass of bruises on his chest and feeling nothing but soreness. Shrugging, he sat up only for the door to open, revealing Amata standing in the doorway carrying a pair of steaming buckets.

"Oh! Um, I didn't…" She stammered, blushing hotly.

"I washed my clothes," he said simply, pointing at the bathroom. "If I make you uncomfortable, you can look away, you know?"

The former Vault Dweller blinked rapidly, clearing her throat and gaining a determined expression before stepping in and closing the door behind her. "I'm not uncomfortable, I was just…surprised." She set the buckets next to the plinth, stripping her shirt off and making for the bathroom as she did. "I'm going to wash my clothes, too. I almost forgot how dirty I feel right now."

"A day-long trek will do that," the sniper grunted, pouring a bit of hot water into the bowl, adding a bar of soap and a rag to the mix before washing up. As he drew the soapy rag across his chest, Dare felt a pair of eyes on him; glancing up at the mirror, he saw Amata's gaze fixed on him, her wet shirt hanging limply from her grasp. She jumped when it slipped out of her hands and hit the floor with a wet smack, startling her out of her staring.

He smiled slightly and continued to clean himself, replacing the water when it became murky and scrubbing at the various crevices until he was as clean as he could be. Taking the dirty water, he dumped it down the bathroom sink, looking up briefly as Amata hung her pants up to dry. "I'm all done," he told her, sitting on the bed to air dry, his eyes on his feet as he stretched his neck and shoulders. The padding of feet reached his ears as her bare legs passed his line of vision, joined a second later by pouring water and the sound of a wet rag cleaning dirty skin.

"Dare?" Amata asked softly, the sniper looking up to meet her eyes in the mirror. Moisture glistened on her cheeks in the low light, damp strands of hair clinging to her forehead. "Can you help me? There's a few spots I can't reach."

Nodding silently, Dare rose from the bed and stepped up behind her, taking the rag as she leaned against the plinth, baring the entirety of her back to him. The entirety, since she'd evidently washed her bra as well, leaving her in only panties. As he cleaned the thin line of grime traveling down her spine, Amata let out a soft moan and arched her back against his hand, nearly grinding her rear against his crotch.

As he finished, he passed the rag back to her; which she soaked then turned around, wrapping her arms around him, pressing her naked breasts to his chest. "You probably missed that spot as well," she whispered, her hazel eyes locked onto his flint grey. As she gently scrubbed his back, her eyes flitted between his eyes and his lips, biting her bottom lip before she dropped the rag and darted forward.

Dare drew back in surprise as their lips mashed together, followed by their teeth clicking loudly against each other. Amata clapped a hand to her mouth, grimacing painfully as she peered up at him. After a second of absolute silence, she broke into slightly-hysterical giggles as he chuckled. "You alright?" He asked with quiet amusement.

"Yeah," she nodded, running her tongue along her teeth. "I've just never, you know, kissed anyone before. I don't think I'm very good at it."

He gently took her chin in a calloused hand and tilted her face up. "You just need a little practice," he murmured, grey eyes sparkling in the low light before leaned forward and kissed her softly. She gasped against his lips, her fingers digging into his back before she pressed forward, one hand reaching up to grasp his short hair as one of his trailed up her back to rest on the back of her neck.

With a little push, Amata sat him down on the bed and crawled into his lap, never breaking their lip contact even as she grasped one of his wrists and directed a hand towards her chest, moaning lightly as his fingers gently teased her breast. Her tongue met no resistance as it slipped through his lips to meet and dance with his, her hips working slightly as she ground against his growing excitement.

Then Amata drew back, breathing heavily as she gazed into his eye, one of his hands gently stroking her back. She bit her lip in thought before sighing, leaning her forehead against his. "Dare…" She began, wincing preemptively. "I…I'm tired. And sore and bruised and not as clean as I want to be for this kind of thing. I still want to!" She assured, hearing silence from the sniper. "I just…can we wait until we get home? I…I want to do it right."

"Of course," he said softly, pecking her nose. "Whatever you want to do, Amata. And you're right; I'm tired and sore as well. If we want to rise at any sort early hour, we should get to bed."

"Thanks," Amata murmured, giving him a small, shy smile, leaning in to kiss him before stopping. "Er, is it alright if I kiss you again? And not just tonight, I mean."

Dare kissed her softly in reply. "It's alright," he replied unnecessarily, half-carrying her as he lifted the blanket and slipped them underneath. "Good night, Amata."

The former Vault Dweller pressed her lips to his once more, snuggling into his arms and tucking her head under his chin as she whispered, "Good night."

…

…

…

…

A/N: IT. HAS. ARRIVED!

It only took almost two years. Christ, just thinking about the time it took makes me cringe. You know, I had three thousand words for this chap the week after I published chapter eleven, but then POOF, no inspiration. I mean, occasionally I'd take a look at it, but I'd correct one or two things then leave it alone again.

Well, I hope this monster chapter makes up for it. And, I even have the stats for Amata! I was kinda stuck between Katie, Amata and Clover, but I figured since she features more prominently, the brunette former Vault Dweller deserves some more attention, so here they are:

Amata Almodovar

The Medic

SPECIAL:

Strength: 5 - She's put on some muscle since the Vault

Perception: 4 - She gets taken by surprise fairly often.

Endurance: 5 - Amata's surprisingly tough.

Charisma: 7 - She's the Overseer's daughter, y'know.

Intelligence: 8 - Science and Medicine, two of her favorite things.

Agility: 6 - She's a bit squishier than the others.

Luck: 4 - What scientist believes in something as undefinable as 'Luck,' anyway?

Skills:

Big Guns: 20 - Unless it's a laser cannon, she doesn't care.

Small Guns: 50 - She's a good shot with a pistol. Dare made sure of it.

Barter: 30 - Let other people handle the deals.

Energy Weapons: 87 - If it goes 'PSSZT!' and 'ZAZOP!' she loves it.

Explosives: 30 - She won't blow herself up with a grenade.

Lockpick: 30 - She prefers to hack her doors open.

Medicine: 85 - She's 'The Medic.' Duh.

Melee Weapons: 25 - What makes you think she'd get into that kind of range?

Repair: 75 - All those wires and crystals are important, you know.

Science: 90 - She's a smart one, that Amata.

Sneak: 45 - She's not as heavy as Clover or Katie, but not quite as sneaky as the Sniper.

Speech: 50 - Good bedside manner.

Survival: 50 - Trained by Dare.

Unarmed: 20 - No, just no.

And there you go! I hope you've enjoyed, and make sure to give a big thanks to Dareigh, NorthSouthGorem and Kurogane7 for all their help! Also that one guy who left like, eight reviews asking me to update this story. It made really determined to do so, so thank you. This if for you. And also everyone else.

Stay Awesome.

~Soleneus

P.S.: No lie, I'm immediately getting started on the next chapter as soon as this chapter goes up. But I did same thing with this chapter, so…

….I don't wanna wait two more years to update this…

D':

Stay Awesome Some More.

~still Soleneus