Renee winced as she shifted the ice pack on her forehead. Even with a Stimpak, her head still pounded something awful. When she came to in the infirmary, Curie was nowhere to be seen; but Piper got her up and to Nate's office for a meeting.

Nate sat at his desk, his elbows up on the wood and his fingers laced. He took a deep breath. "We have…a problem."

"Yeah, what happened? Everything's a little…" Renee scrunched her eyebrows together. "Fuzzy."

Piper crossed her arms and looked away. "Well, the conference room's destroyed, for starters. I don't really know what happened, either. Just…chaos."

Nate closed his eyes, still breathing evenly. He opened them again. "I have confirmation that Elder Maxson and Dr. Li are both dead."

"Wh… What?" Renee blinked. "How?"

"In all the confusion, they were both shot. But now that means we have bigger problems. The Institute blames the Brotherhood, and the Brotherhood is blaming the Institute. And both of them blame me. Us. The Minutemen." He exhaled through his nose. "As of right now, the Commonwealth is at war." He suddenly slammed a hand down on his desk. "Damn it!"

Preston took his hat off and shook his head. "Peace isn't easy, General. We can still turn this around."

"I know. But how many innocents are going to die because I was stupid enough to believe I could get them both to stand down?" Nate gritted his teeth as he stood. "I was hoping the prospect of information would get them both, but I was wrong. I overestimated them."

Renee bit her lip. Even she knew it was a dumb idea, trying to goad them with Curie. She looked around. "Where's Curie? And Anita?"

Piper whimpered. "Anita was hurt protecting Blue."

"Yes. She…took a laser shot meant for me." Nate's shoulders fell. "Curie's been in surgery with her since."

"Oh…" Renee looked over at Piper, who was curled in on herself and looking far too depressed for her liking.

Nate began to pace the floor. "We need to start our own recruitment regime. We're going to need as many Minutemen as we can spare. I know most of the fighting will be between the Brotherhood and the Institute, but it's our mission to protect the people of the Commonwealth from danger. I don't want to risk a direct strike to either faction; but I want to ensure that the people are safe." He looked to Preston. "Garvey, I'm putting you in charge of recruitment."

"You got it, General." Preston flashed a grin.

"And when Anita is back on her feet, I'm putting her in charge of reconnaissance. We're going to need information on Brotherhood movement. I can probably still get information from the Institute, but I can't guarantee I'll be allowed there for long. I was on thin ice with them to begin with." Nate frowned. "Thanks to the Railroad."

Renee watched him as he paced. "Are we getting the Railroad involved as well?"

"Not if we can help it. The fewer people get involved with this, the better. They have their own problems."

"Hm…" Renee's shoulders slumped. She certainly never expected to get caught up in an honest-to-goodness war. She just wanted to live a simple life. Well, as Curie would put it, c'est la vie.

The door to the office opened and Lily shuffled in. She cleared her throat. "General?" Her voice, normally strong, sounded meek.

"What is it, Cromwell?" Nate leaned on his desk.

"It's… Mayweather."

Renee smiled. "She's going to be okay?"

Lily bit her lip. "She's… Mayweather's dead, sir."

The funeral took place in the evening. Though Anita Mayweather's body was to be interred in the catacombs beneath the Castle, the service happened above ground. Nate stood on a wooden platform, flanked by Piper and Preston. "It is with a heavy heart that I have to say we've lost one of our own."

Renee stood next to Lily in the crowd. She swallowed hard, her eyes brimmed with tears. True, she hadn't known Anita for long; but she considered the woman a friend, and having that taken from her so soon… It hurt.

"Lieutenant-Colonel Anita Mayweather was many things to us. A friend. A fellow Minuteman. A confidant. She was a damn good soldier." Nate cleared his throat. "She exemplified everything a Minuteman—no, everything a good person should be. She put her life on the line for what she believed in. To keep me, us, the Commonwealth, safe. To say she will be missed is an understatement. She will be missed. And she can never be replaced."

Renee heard a choked sound next to her and looked up to see Lily covering her mouth with her hand. "I'm here." She reached to put a hand at Lily's back.

Lily said nothing. She stared a hole in the ground as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"But we must move forward. We must work for what she believed in. A peaceful future for the Commonwealth, one where the Minutemen aren't needed. Grieve her, but remember her." Nate took a deep breath. "To do otherwise would be an insult to her memory."

He gestured to a group of Minutemen off to the side and they all launched a volley of laser musket fire into the air. The group did so two more times, saluting their fallen comrade. He nodded to Piper and Preston and walked down the platform.

As the group dispersed, Renee gazed up at Lily. "You okay?"

"I… I don't know." Lily wiped at her eyes angrily. "God damn it, how could she do this? To us? To… To me?"

"I didn't realize you two were so close."

"She was my mentor." Lily looked away. "I just… I need to be alone." She shoved past Renee.

Renee watched after her with a sigh. As much as she wanted to run after her, she knew Lily needed to process things on her own. She looked around the courtyard. No one really seemed to know what to do with themselves, as most people were crowded in small huddles. She started to head back into the Castle's interior to look for Curie.

Movement caught her eye and she turned her gaze up to the parapets. A lone figure stood staring out over the harbor, lab coat waving in the breeze. "Curie?" Renee made her way to a metal staircase leading up. "Curie, what are you doing?"

Curie didn't respond. She stood absolutely still.

Renee closed the distance between them and put a hand on her good shoulder. "Curie?"

"She's…dead." Curie's eyes were red from where she'd clearly been crying.

"I know. I'm sorry." She debated on pulling in the Synth for a hug.

Curie gave a half-hearted chuckle. "She's dead. And it's my fault."

"What? No, it's not your fault. You didn't shoot her." Renee moved to stand in front of her.

"I was supposed to save her, and I… I couldn't." Curie shook her head. "I couldn't save her." She gazed beyond Renee, to some point far out on the horizon. "I couldn't save her life. I'm a doctor, but all I do is let people die."

Renee gripped her arms. "I know you did the best you could."

"But it wasn't good enough. Don't you see? I…" Curie's eyes flickered to Renee's. Her chest heaved. "I let zhem die!"

Renee barely caught her as Curie's knees gave out and she sunk to the ground. Renee eased her down, holding her tightly. "You didn't let her die—"

"I couldn't save them! I tried, but I couldn't keep zhem alive!" Curie's nails dug into her back as she cried, scrambling for some kind of vague comfort. "I couldn't—I couldn't save them. I let zhem die. It's my fault they're dead. I was designed to save lives and they just won't stay alive!"

Renee realized this had little to do with Anita anymore. "Who died, Curie?"

Curie shook her head. "They're dead because of me. I couldn't help zhem, I just let zhem die. I couldn't do zhe one thing I'm programmed to do. It's my fault." She buried her face in Renee's shoulder. "My… My fault…"

Renee wrapped her arms around Curie's petite frame and rubbed her back. "It's not your fault. You didn't let anyone die."

"I… I…" Curie whimpered where she clung desperately to Renee.

"I'm here. I'm not going to leave you." Renee closed her eyes and nuzzled her cheek against Curie's chestnut hair. She recognized it now. The faraway look, the blank stares. It was the same way she got when she thought about Davey too much, her time in Rivet City, when he would come home particularly drunk and take it out on her.

Curie trembled as she cried. Her fingers began to grow slack, but Renee knew she would have finger-shaped bruises on her back. She didn't mind.

Renee pulled away long enough to gaze down at the woman. "Are you with me?"

Curie only nodded, sniffling. She looked away.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Curie drew in a shuddering breath. "Do you…know why I came to Diamond City?" Her voice was hoarse.

"To work on your experiments, right?"

"Non. Zhat was only what I told people." Curie coughed once. "Zhe real reason is I… Monsieur Howard, he… I could no longer deal with death. As a robot, zhere is a certain level of disconnect between myself and my patients. But zhis body, zhis… Zhis foolish, clumsy, bundle of emotions I'm trapped in, suddenly I couldn't…"

Renee held her close again. "There's no shame in finding something you can't handle."

"Zhere was a fight, between zhe Minutemen and zhe Gunners 'ere at zhe Castle. Monsieur Howard put me in charge of zhe infirmary. But only… Only two Minutemen survived. Zhe rest—I couldn't save them. I tried. I tried to keep zhem alive, but I just…couldn't." She clenched her fists, punching the hand of her good arm against the ground. "Seven Minutemen dead, because of me!"

"I know you did your best. I know you tried. You didn't let them die. Sometimes, people just die. You can't fix everything with a Stimpak." Renee sat back on her heels and reached down to hold Curie's hand in her own. She ran her thumb over Curie's scraped knuckles. "It's not your fault."

Curie barked out a hollow laugh. "And now. Now Anita Mayweather is dead because of me. I almost—almost saved her. But 'er heart, it just…stopped beating. And she was gone."

"Look at me."

Curie did not.

Renee gently lifted Curie's chin with her other hand. "Look at me, Curie. It's not your fault. It was never your fault. No one blames you for Anita's death. No one blames you for those other Minutemen. If someone is meant to die, they're going to die. Sometimes, there's nothing we can do about it." She sighed, trying to smile, but failing.

"I was built to save lives. And if I can't do even zhat…"

"You were built to be Curie. Whether that means you save lives, or do research, or babysit me, or whatever you want it to mean. You make your own directive." Renee pulled her in again. "I… I miss her. But I'm not mad at you. I don't know how badly Anita was shot, but if she's not suffering, then… I'm okay with it."

Curie buried her face in the space between Renee's collar. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"I'm sorry too."

She shivered from the chill air. "I'm…"

"You need to get some rest." Renee stood and helped her to her feet, catching her as she stumbled. "You're still recovering from your own injury, and you've had…a day."

Curie reached to put a hand to her forehead, her eyes closed and her brow furrowed in pain. She exhaled roughly. "Renee, may I make a selfish request?"

"Of course."

"Stay with me." Curie turned to gaze up at her, hazel eyes still watery with tears. "I don't want to be alone."

Renee wrapped an arm around her waist. "I'm not going anywhere. Not now, not ever. I promise."