Disclaimer: This story is written using the setting and the characters of Bethesada's Fallout franchise, and as such, they all belong to Bethesada. Original characters, fictional locations, and such are all entirely made up and any resemblance to other people/places is purely coincidental. If you find a reason to sue me, proceed. Just be warned, I'm virtually penniless and have a cute little puppy that relies on me for food and a warm place to sleep. A puppy, people. Don't be cruel.
BRAVE NEW WORLD
Chapter 8 - A Call to Arms
"Duty, Honor, Country. Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be."
- Douglas MacArthur, American General
September 1, 2295.
Now it was an important date in the Commonwealth. A day of celebration. A day of pride. A day of unity. Here in the heart of Lexington, hundreds of people had come from all over the Commonwealth. North and south, east and west, everyone had come to Lexington to witness the procession, to see this army their savior had assembled.
Everyone was still talking about it. An army of Minutemen, of volunteers and mercenaries, of Outcasts and Super Mutants. An army assembled for one and only one purpose. To defend the Commonwealth, to defend all of them, from enemies beyond her limits.
It was more the fact that the General of the Minutemen was leading this campaign that won them over more than anything. After all, he had rescued them from the raiders and the mutants and the Institute. He had defended them from Maxson and the Brotherhood of Steel.
He was more than just the General of the Minutemen. He was their hero. He was their savior. To them, he was larger than life. A legend comes to life. A symbol of a world that no longer existed, a world that could exist once more. A world better than anything in the Wasteland.
This man out of time, this stranger from the past... To the people, he represented the future. He was a beacon of hope, a rallying cry against terror, and the living incarnation of courage itself. Many among them shared stories, personal tales of bravery, of the General saving them from raiders, from the Triggermen and the Forged, from the Gunners and the Super Mutants. Tales of the General rushing to stop a Synth patrol. Tales of the General risking his life to pull a stranger out of a burning house. Tales of the General jumping into the fray just for them.
If it hadn't been for the announcement that the General wouldn't be participating in the election, he would have won the Presidency by a landslide. It wouldn't have taken a year of campaigning to do it either. They'd have fallen all over themselves just to get to the voting booths.
And so, no matter where he went, Nathaniel Howard was cheered on by everyone who saw him. Kids ran up to him, excited to tell him how much they wanted to be Minutemen just like him. Crowds gathered around him, hoping to just be able to get a word in and just thank the man himself. The Minutemen that escorted him everywhere complained about it all the time, having to hold back so many people and fight just to advance a single inch.
Though they secretly didn't mind it. Anything for their commander, after all.
Piper Wright smiled as she scribbled down in her notepad, writing up the beginning of an article for Publick Occurrences. She looked around then. Lexington was really something to see. She had come here a few times in the past with Nate, and it was always a mangled wreck of a ruin.
And now, she was a living, breathing city. The Lexington Initiative, no doubt about it, was a sterling success. Nate himself had told her on a few occasions how proud he was of the Lexington Initiative, how he knew his Nora would be just as proud. It was something she would have done, after all. The reporter scribbled down another few sentences. Her readers were going to love this one as well. They always did whenever it was about the Savior of the Commonwealth.
She went on, walking down the street alongside the Super Duper Mart. Peering through the grimy windows, Piper could see the bustling store inside, long since repaired and put back to use with fresh produce from local farms, meat hanging from racks by the butcher's corner, courtesy of the brahmin barons that had risen up in the recent years. It was really good to see so much fresh food up on display for purchase. She could barely remember a time when the people had to rely on centuries-old preserved food and drinks.
There were still some of those being sold, of course. But for the most part, with so many crops being grown and harvested, so many livestock and cattle being raised and butchered, there was simply just little need for the artificially preserved food.
Of course, the Minutemen were always stockpiling food from the old world, in case of emergencies. Better safe than sorry, Nate had told her during an interview two years ago.
Looking away, Piper continued on. To her left, she saw the restored and renamed Commonwealth Bank of Lexington. Some rich asshole, she recalled, had thought it'd be clever to fix up the old bank and for reasons she couldn't figure out, the General agreed on it and promised Minuteman support. All those paper bills they had been using to wipe their asses with, turns out that was actually money. Caps, in paper form.
Weird as hell, but whatever.
But because of that, there were now Commonwealth Banks in Diamond City, in Bunker Hill,in Quincy, and there were apparently plans to establish a few more. With Minutemen providing security detail for the transport of money and many of the merchants and caravans supporting the move, most of the Commonwealth had agreed to switch from caps to dollar bills, with the Commonwealth Mint being set in Hagen, just next to Fort Hagen.
From the start Piper, like many, had been unsure how this was even gonna work. But the General had come through on that front again, suggesting they back the value of their new dollar bills with other resources worth their weight in value.
At first, it had been done with water, as that had been one of the first major ventures the Minutemen had focused on. Then it was done with salt from a local salt mine just north of Tenpines Bluff, then Salem and Nahant and Nordhagen, all the waterfront communities, had started looking into desalination operations, reclaiming salt from the seas and decontimating them of any radiation.
And now, they were buying up all the silver and gold, talking about how they would melt them down into bars and use them to back up the value of the dollar bill. In any case, Piper knew Preston would have a hell of a job, protecting the Commonwealth's treasury and all the valuables safely secured under Fort Hagen.
It would probably be a good thing, she decided after thinking about it. After all, if they were going to be putting together a government for the Commonwealth, it'd be good to have a treasury to support the government.
Moving on, she turned a corner and made her way into the bazaar, crammed full of cheering crowds. Nearby, Minutemen were rocking it on their instruments and jamming out songs. Piper smiled at that. It was always good to hear music.
Especially from this particular group, the wildly popular Freedom Fighters. They were always on either Diamond City Radio or Commonwealth Radio, and they even made it onto Radio Freedom, whenever there wasn't any news to pass on.
Speaking of Radio Freedom...
Piper ducked through the crowd when she saw a familiar face and grabbed a guy by the shoulder.
"Hey, easy there!" Solomon shouted as he turned around, smiling wide as soon as he saw it was Piper Wright, the intrepid reporter. "Piper! Good to see you!"
Piper smiled in return. "Solomon Davis, you say that everytime I see you."
"Well..." The man grinned then, "It's always good to see you, so..."
The reporter chuckled before looking around. "Hell of a crowd, huh? Has anything happened yet?"
"Nope," said the operator of Radio Freedom. "Not yet, at least." Solomon David, a Lieutenant with the Minutemen, was one of the most popular voices in the Commonwealth. For the last seven years, it had been his voice that reached the Commonwealth, relaying Nathaniel's messages, news of Minuteman victories, warning settlements of potential dangers, etc.
To the people of the Commonwealth, Solomon Davis was known as the Voice of Freedom.
He looked back at Piper. "The General's supposed to be giving his speech soon, though. You made it just in time."
"Great," said Piper as she looked around some more. "As seeing as I'm working on an article now, you wanna help me out?"
Solomon shrugged. "Sure, it's a free country, ain't it?"
Smiling at that, Piper punched the man on his shoulder. "It will be, at any rate. So, I've been hearing people talk about how today's going to be a Commonwealth holiday..."
The radio operator nodded. "Yeah, that's the plan." He looked over at Piper then, noticed the measuring stare she was giving him, the unspoken question. "Heh. The way the General sees it, the people of the Commonwealth need plenty of reasons to celebrate. That's why we got Freedom Day, after we brought down the Institute. And Victory Day, after the Brotherhood War."
"Uh huh." Piper scribbled in her notepad as she listened. "So, what is our great emancipator giving us now?"
"Commonwealth Day," came the answer. "Wants it to be the day people start getting ready for elections. Not just for this President shindig, though. Says it'd be good if people started voting on all kinds of positions. Mayors. Representatives. Whatever you got."
"So it's a celebration of democracy then?" The reporter inquired.
"I suppose." Solomon shrugged again. "But that's not all it's supposed to be. It's supposed to be a way to celebrate the Commonwealth as a country, celebrate everyone united, standing together. Just like the Minuteman motto."
"United, We Stand." Piper cracked a smile as she repeated the motto. She remembered listening to Preston and the Sole Survivor at the Dugout Inn, debating on what to use for their official motto.
She also recalled Vadim throwing in his own suggestion. 'Truth, Justice, and the Bobrov Way, eh, eh?'
Solomon nodded along. "United, We Stand. And now that's a reality. Just look at everyone here. At any rate, it was better than Nate's idea. Unite or die. Like, seriously... Nothing but bad ideas when he's drunk."
Piper looked around again, taking in the sight of the cheering crowds. Streamers of red, white, and blue filled the air. Blue flags were hung up everywhere, the Minuteman symbol on every single one of them. Banners had been put up all along the storefronts and against the walls of every building in Lexington, showing off the Commonwealth colors. A flagpole had been erected in the middle of the bazaar, just next to the statue of the Minuteman, while a platform had been built beside the flagpole.
There was no flag flying, though. "What's the deal with that?" Piper wondered.
Solomon grinned. "Just wait until you see it. Nate and the rest of them put their heads together and decided on a new flag, one to represent us all. A flag for the entire Commonwealth, not just the Minuteman flag."
It was then that Piper saw the Sole Survivor making his way up the steps onto the platform. In his hand, there was a colorful piece of fabric. A folded flag, she quickly realized. Joining him on the platform, Preston Garvey took up position beside the flagpole as John Hancock stood by, crossing his arms and looking cleaned up, for once.
"Good afternoon, Lexington!" The Sole Survivor began, amidst thunderous cheering. "And a shout out to the rest of the Commonwealth!" He cracked a grin as he held out his arms, enjoying the moment like he always did at these kinds of events. "I'm glad to see so many people here, makes it all worth it, really!"
He cleared his throat before smiling again as the cheering continued unabated. Gesturing for some silence, he waited until it was quiet enough to talk again. "Many of you know me. For those of you who don't, my name is Nathaniel Howard, the General of the Minutemen. With me is Preston Garvey, also of the Minutemen, and John Hancock, of Goodneighbor." He gestured toward each man with him as he said their names.
Nate stopped for a moment. Took a deep breath as he pulled out a piece of paper from his jacket's pocket. Then he began speaking.
War. War never changes.
In the year 1945, my great-great grandfather, serving in the army, wondered when he'd get to go home to his wife and the son he'd never seen. He got his wish when the US ended World War II by dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The world awaited Armageddon; instead, something miraculous happened. We began to use atomic energy not as a weapon, but as a nearly limitless source of power.
People enjoyed luxuries once thought the realm of science fiction. Domestic robots, fusion-powered cars, portable computers. But then, in the 21st century, people awoke from the American dream.
Years of consumption led to shortages of every major resource. The entire world unraveled. Peace became a distant memory. It was the year 2077. We stood on the brink of total war, and I was afraid. For myself, for my wife, for my infant son. Because if my time in the army taught me one thing; it's that war, war never changes.
In the year 2287, I stumbled out of a dying Vault, alone. Found a world in ruins. America, gone. My wife, dead. My son, gone. Even then, when I thought I had lost everything, I found something else.
Hope.
It was like a light, shining in the darkness, drawing me from the abyss. Pulling me forward. Into the Wasteland. I found others. Survivors. Rebuilding. Helping each other.
I learned something else, something the army didn't teach me. Something no one can teach you. It's something you learn just by living through everything life throws at you. Everything can change in an instant, whether or not you're ready.
This wasn't the world I wanted, but it's the one I found myself in. This time, I'm ready. Because I know.
Hope. Hope never fades.
Nate looked up then, eyes watering lightly as he pushed aside everything he had been thinking about, everything he had gone through. All the pain. All his losses. Wiping his eyes quickly, Nate recomposed himself as everyone there applauded.
"Eight years ago," Nate went on, "We have won victory after victory. We put an end to the raiders' reign of terror. We put an end to the Triggermen. The Forged. The Rust Devils. The Mechanist. The Gunners. We put an end to the Institute. We won the Brotherhood War. The Commonwealth is safe. Safer than it was eight years ago. Eight years ago, Preston Garvey here was the last Minuteman standing. Now, he is one among two thousands."
"The Commonwealth is safe." The Sole Survivor repeated. "But the Commonwealth is not the world. There are enemies beyond her borders. Enemies that want nothing less than to destroy the Commonwealth, just like the Institute did years ago. And they are coming for us."
He went quiet for a moment, as did everyone else. Then... "The Gunners have resurfaced." There came murmurs and shouts then, the people suddenly worried and afraid and wondering if this was why so many Minutemen had gathered. "They have been hard at work ever since their defeat eight years ago. They have conquered new territories of their own. They have terrorized other communities. They have conscripted more men and women, amassed more weapons, and they have made preparations for their invasion."
"But, that invasion will never come!"
"We fought together, all of us, for a free Commonwealth. Some of us bled for the Commonwealth. Some of us died for the Commonwealth." Nate went on. "We fought for freedom, and we won that freedom. But freedom isn't free. It's paid for with the highest of costs. Sacrifice. Every one of us has sacrificed something for the Commonwealth. A parent. A sibling. A child. Friends. Loved ones. People we'll never see again."
"An army has been raised," the Sole Survivor continued. "An army with only one purpose. To fight for the safety of the Commonwealth, the freedom of her people, and the continued existence of everything we have built together. Together, we will march south to confront the Gunners and to put an end to them. We will free the people living under the fear of the Gunners. And they will know the same peace the Commonwealth enjoys."
The General looked all around himself, looked in as many eyes as possible, smiling all the while.
"And we will march on further! Into Rhode Island! Into Connecticut! Into New York and New Jersey! All the way to the Capital Wasteland! The heart of America itself! And there," Nate held up his hand, the hand holding the new flag, "We're going to pull down Arthur Maxson from his throne and put an end to his insanity before he can destroy the Commonwealth!"
He handed the flag to Preston then, who took it with great care and began unfolding it.
"It is not for the sake of vengeance. It is not an act of greed. It is not a desire for glory. What we do, we do in the name of peace and sanity. What we do, we do in the name of the Commonwealth, for the Commonwealth." Nate turned to the side as he spoke, winking at Hancock.
The ghoul snorted in response. "Sounds good to me, General." He stepped forward then, joining Nate at the front. "Of the Commonwealth, for the Commonwealth!"
The crowds broke out in cheers, applauding wildly, some even taking up the chance to start chanting what the General and Hancock had just said.
All the while, Preston worked at attaching the flag to the flagpole. Once he finished, the Colonel turned to his superior. "We're all set, General." Nate nodded, smiling. He turned his attention back to the cheering masses. Raising his hands up in the air, he gestured for them to allow him to speak.
"The Mayor of Goodneighbor, John Hancock." The General stepped aside as Hancock took center stage.
"Well, boys and girls, have we got a real prize for y'all!" Hancock grinned as he greeted the crowd with a wave of his hand. "Me and the others, we've been doing lots of thinkin' and drinkin' and hittin'... Well, granted, I was doing most of the drinkin' and druggin' but..."
There was a nervous laughter, as if they thought he was kidding but they weren't entirely sure. Nate groaned and facepalmed. Preston grunted in disgust as he pulled the flag up the pole.
"Anyhow! We've been flyin' the Minuteman flag for years now! But you know what? The Minutemen aren't the Commonwealth. They're her protectors. So we all agreed, the Commonwealth need a real an' proper flag of her own!" He pointed upward then, toward the flag that was now waving in the air, high above the bazaar. They could see stripes of red and white, with blue on one end, ringed in stars, the symbol of the Minutemen in the middle. "Now, it might be a brave new world here and now, but one thing hasn't changed..."
Nate stepped forward then, clapping Hancock on his shoulder. "We're still Americans."
Hancock patted him on the back before moving back where he had been earlier. The General smiled as he looked up at the flag. It was good to see the stars and stripes again. Though, he hadn't expected to see the lightning bolt and the rifle included as well. "That flag... is a symbol, an enduring one. It was once the symbol of the United States of America. The greatest nation to ever grace this Earth. A symbol of our national pride. A symbol of our military might. A symbol of our matchless advances in art and literature and science. A symbol of the human spirit and the stubborn refusal to ever give up. A symbol of the American Dream. Those stars and stripes... The colors... They all mean something. Purity and innocence. Hardiness and valor. Vigilance and perseverance. And above all... Freedom. Truth. Justice."
He brought his gaze back down on the people. "That flag is a symbol we all can rally around, a symbol to believe in. This Commonwealth of ours, it used to be one of the thirteen that made up America."
Hancock piped up then, "We took back this wasteland from all the assholes and bastards runnin' it into the ground!"
And Preston stepped up as well. "We took back this wasteland from the Gunners, the Institute, and the Brotherhood!"
Nate finished it up next. "And if we can do that here, we can do it anywhere else! We rebuild the Commonwealth here, we can rebuild them all! It'll mean the end of the raiders, the freaks, the maniacs, anyone who's ever pushed us around and threatened us, everyone who has ever held a gun to our heads and told us what to do! From now on, no one will ever have the chance to threaten us... Threaten that flag... Tell us what they want from us... Because the only answer we're going to give them is this."
And the General took a single step forward, held out a single finger, as if he were facing some unknown opponent, and with a smile on his face... "You go straight to Hell!"
Amidst thunderous cheering, Preston and Hancock both left the platform.
Preston made his way through the crowds, back toward Corvega. There were always things to see to, after all. Hancock, on the other hand, decided on another direction, joining up with Fahrenheit and a few of the Goodneighbor boys.
Nathaniel was still where he stood, soaking in all the cheers and clapping.
Then he went on, smiling. "And when it comes down to it, that's why I'm taking the fight to the Gunners and to Maxson. It's because I love that flag, and I love this Commonwealth. It has been an honor, rebuilding the Minutemen to protect you all, and it has been a joy to watch you all rebuild your lives."
"But," he went on, "while I'm away, while your fighting sons and daughters are away, there will be a very important duty for every one of you. The most important of them all."
There came a silence then, everyone listening closely to what the General had to say now.
"While we're fighting in the name of the Commonwealth, it'll be up to you all to make it worth the fight!" He gestured for someone else to join him then. "That's why we're all going to take a very important step forward together, for the Commonwealth. Every town in the Commonwealth, every farm, every settlement, every community... You all have representatives to look after your interests and make sure you have a say in this alliance. Well... We're going to get together and figure out who's going to represent us all."
Danny Sullivan stepped onto the platform then, waving as he approached the General. "That's right, folk!" He shook Nate's hand then, clapped him on the shoulder before going on. "In about a year's time, we're going to be voting on the President of this Commonwealth, someone who'll be our voice. One voice for one Commonwealth!"
As he went on, the General left the platform as well. With some difficulty, he made his way through the masses, feeling dozens of hands touching him, patting him, clapping on his back. The Minutemen escorting him struggled to keep a path moving forward.
Piper waved at him when she saw him looking around in her direction. The Sole Survivor smiled and gestured for her to join him. "Solomon, thank you." She grinned as she put away her notepad, having jotted down a hundred things in it already throughout the whole speech.
The radio operator, the Voice of Freedom, smiled and nodded. "No problem. It was good to see you again, Pip."
The intrepid reporter made her way through the crowd as well, ducking and weaving and dodging, until she found herself outside a fixed up Slocum Joe, catching sight of Nate and the two Minutemen escorting him inside.
Inside, Piper sat beside him on one of the stools, the Minutemen knowing her well and having let her through.
"Hell of a speech, eh?" Nate grinned.
The reporter nodded. "Inspirational, Blue. Like always." She pulled out a pen and her notepad. "So, I was thinking... Interview?"
He chuckled. "Anything for you, Piper."
She pulled off her press hat then, revealing the short haircut she had gotten recently. Nate raised an eyebrow at that.
"Nice look," came the compliment.
"Oh, I thought it was time for a change, Blue." Piper shrugged. "So... Nathaniel Howard. General of the Minutemen. Savior of the Wasteland. Hero of the Brotherhood War. Conqueror of th-"
"I'm not a conqueror, Piper. I'm not out to take over the world, you know that." The Sole Survivor looked at her.
"True." The reporter chuckled. "Just exercising some creative liberties. That aside... You really mean what you said, Blue? Out there, I mean."
He nodded. "Absolutely. Every word of it."
"You said we beat the Gunners once. That's true. But the Gunners also beat the Minutemen once. They say history has a habit of repeating itself... How do you know it won't repeat in their favor?" Inquired the fearless woman.
"Because the only way the Gunners could beat the Minutemen was when the Minutemen were already fighting each other. There's none of that now. Every advantage the Gunners had in the past, the Minutemen have now. We're united in a common goal. We've got the training now, the discipline, the gear. Our people have fought against synths and mutants and the Brotherhood." Nate smiled. "Whatever military training they've got, it's been filtered through two hundred years of violence and greed. And they only fight for caps. The training I've given the Minutemen is the real deal. And they're fighting for something far more important than money. They're fighting for something bigger than themselves. That's the real difference. That's our edge."
Piper jotted down everything the General said. Then she looked up at him. "And once the Gunners are done with?"
"Like I said, we're going to push on through, until we reach the Capital Wasteland. Arthur Maxson is the real danger here, and anyone stupid enough to stand in my way, I'll roll over them, roll over everything to get to the bastard."
"And the Brotherhood of Steel?"
"We've got Brotherhood tech on our side too. The Outcasts are returning with us, and once they've gotten word back to their people... I think there's going to be a lot of infighting before the dust settles. Maxson's unhinged. He's paranoid. He's not thinking straight anymore. The only thing on his mind is wiping the slate clean and putting a shiny coat on his aura of invincibility. At least, I hope it is. Because an enemy that's obsessed with a particular goal... They'll be easy to read. Easy to predict and counter."
"So say you win. What when?" Piper continued.
"Once Maxson's taken down, I'm going to make sure he never threatens anyone else. Ever. The Brotherhood can keep him, provided they keep him under control. They can rebuild if they want, but the way they operated up to that point... That's finished. No more conscripting civilians. No more taking crops and supplies and whatever else they want. No more occupying territories and imposing their rules."
"In other words," the reporter went on then, "the Brotherhood of Steel won't be running things anymore in the Capital Wasteland. Who's going to fill that void then? The Minutemen? The people living there? You talked about rebuilding Commonwealths everywhere, rebuilding America... While we're busy voting on a President, are you going to be building us a country?"
Nate didn't answer then. He helped himself to some more of the Nuka Cola in his hand instead. Then he sighed. "I don't know, honestly."
"You say you're not a conqueror, Blue. What are you then? A liberator?" She had a point then, Nate realized. What was he, really? Hero? General? Savior? Were they really something he deserved? He hadn't really done much. All he had done was given the people the means to do what needed doing.
"I'm a soldier, Piper. That's all there is to it. The Army trained me to fight America's wars. Whatever happened since the Great War, this is still America as far as I'm concerned. Maybe I'm the only one who remembers her the way she used to be. Maybe I'm the only soldier left in her army." He looked at Piper then, a sad little smile on his lips. "Even if I'm the last soldier left, that doesn't mean my war's over."
"Blue..."
Nate sighed as he leaned back. "There was this guy, Piper. A real general. One of the best in American history. General Douglas MacArthur. The last year or so, I kept thinking about him. What he did. What he managed to accomplish... And what he couldn't accomplish."
"Uh huh?" The reporter said, urging him on.
"He fought in wars. Even fought in two World Wars. In the end... He ended up being charged with insubordination by his President. I used to do a report on him in college, so I read up a lot about him. One thing really stood out to me, though... It was his farewell speech. He said... 'Men since the beginning of time have sought peace. Various methods through the ages have been attempted to devise an international process to prevent or settle disputes between nations. From the very start, workable methods were found in so far as individual citizens were concerned, but the mechanics of an instrumentality of larger international scope have never been successful. Military alliances, balances of power, leagues of nations, all in turn failed, leaving the only path to be by way of the crucible of war. The utter destructiveness of war now blocks out this alternative. We have had our last chance. If we will not devise some greater and more equitable system, Armageddon will be at our door." Nate fell silent as he thought about that speech. It had been originally something he was planning to quote in his speech two centuries ago, but had decided against it.
"He goes on to say that it wasn't really a social or political problem but a spiritual one. He was trying to say that we had to change our nature. Believe in something bigger than us and have faith in that instead of..." The General sighed then. "In the end, what he warned us against came to pass anyway, oh, about a hundred and twenty years later. A pessimist would have said that maybe it was fated to happen no matter what, that humanity's destiny lay with extinction."
He looked at her. "Me? I say to hell with that."
Piper appeared lost in thought. She had never heard Blue like this before. "Nate..."
The Sole Survivor chuckled. "Don't mind me, I'm just getting philosophical. Just means I need a stiff drink and a good night's sleep. Haven't had one in... Ah, two hundred and eighteen years." He grinned at his joke then. "Piper, there's something I was hoping to ask you."
"What is it?" said Piper, genuinely curious.
"Come with us. There's a hell of a story in the making, you know. Someone's gotta write about it."
"You want me to join this expedition of yours?" She raised her eyebrow. She couldn't deny she had thought about it. It would have been a hell of an adventure... "But what about Na-"
"Your sister is old enough to look after herself, Piper." said Nate gently, a smile on his lips. "But if it makes you feel better, I will have my boys look after her personally. And this way, you get to add wartime reporter to your resume, eh?"
Piper chuckled. "All right, Blue... You got it."
Author's Note: Updated as of 6/14/2021