Around eight pm the senior members, official and unofficial, of Lyon's Pride left the Citadel aboard a Vertibird en route to Rivet City. After the Fall of the Enclave, the Brotherhood began to integrate themselves more and more with the Capital Wasteland's civilian population. This led to Elder Owen Lyons instituting an off-duty uniform for use by Brotherhood members to allow civilians more ease of mind when members of the Brotherhood were off duty and making use of the various bars and stores in non-brotherhood settlements, the most common being Rivet City.

The uniform consisted of re-dyed Enclave officer uniforms, Paladins and above wearing a police hat, with any insignias replaced with the Brotherhoods or, in the case of Sara and her pride, the pride's insignia. The Vertibird landed in the plaza just in front of Rivet City, where a few guards moved closer ready to act just in case things got violent. After confirming their identity, the bridge was extended and the group moved inside towards the city's bar, called the Muddy Rudder.

Entering inside the smell of alcohol, unwashed bodies, and poorly cleaned tables washed over them. Despite the sun not having set yet, there were several patrons already drunk and one of the custodial staff cleaning the blood of the floor showed that a brawl had already ensued. Sadly, it was the only bar within a realistic range of the Citadel and despite Rivet City's importance to the water trade the owner hasn't invested in renovations or at least cleaning the place. The Brotherhood members sat at a table by the door and a waitress walked over. "What'll it be?" she asked.

"I'll have a whiskey," Ridger said, "Order what you want brothers, I'm paying. Elder's orders," a minor bit of laughter followed the comment. Vargas, Tristan, and Kodiak made their orders, two things of vodka for the Paladins and scotch for Tristan. "I'll have a water," Sara said.

"She meant a whiskey," Ridger 'corrected'. She looked at him exasperated. He seemed oblivious to it, "You need to relax, I remember reading a prewar medical journal that talked about how stress could lead to long term health problems. So, you can stay sober, drinking water, and remove slivers of your life worrying about the fate of the wasteland every second of every day. Or, get a whiskey and blow off some steam among friends,"

Sara stayed silent for a moment. "Who wrote the journal?" she asked him.

"The first name was scorched away. The surname was Selye," he answered, not trying to hide his emotions from her. She thought deeply, trying to place the name but nothing came to mind. But she hadn't been given a reason to not trust Ridger yet. "I'd like to see the book when we get back to the citadel," she told him. He nodded in response. She turned back to the waitress, "I'll have a Vodka." The women jotted the order down and walked back down to the counter. Kodiak and Vargas were chuckling at the exchange between their fellow Paladin and the Elder. Others among the brotherhood would've been surprised by the banter but they were all part of the Pride and had bonds that went past the normal ones of the brotherhood.

"Heard about what happened with Maxon and the water convoy," Vargas said, "Lucky for him you were nearby,"

"Yeah, lucky," Ridger said, "We were also damn lucky that Sara and Tristan were in the air or else we'd be dead,"

"I'm sure you'd have found a way," Kodiak said, "You've fought your way through a prewar military base infested by Enclave, I'm sure a few mutants wouldn't have been a problem." The drinks arriving stopped the explanation that a mutant had a gun to the back of his head, and despite the popular belief among many in the waste land he wasn't invincible. His eye's met Tristan's and Sara, and they acknowledged the fact that he'd have been a dead man if they hadn't been in the air.

For a few hours they sat there, eventually ordering dinner, just exchanging banter and telling war stories, some were old and had been heard many times but others were either new or untold. One that interested the group the most was how Ridger acquired his microwave emitter. How he had a bit of his brain bashed out and the rivalry between Desmond and the Brain. Another story he told was how he acquired his power armor, the Anchorage simulation and the infighting within the Outcasts, which garnered a smirk from most at the table. But Sara could tell there were some stories he didn't share, whether they hurt too much or he didn't trust them, she didn't know. But she had heard rumors of Grayditch, Arefu, and Megaton. But decided not to push him on the topics.

At around 11pm, at least according to the clock on the wall the group decided to return to the Citadel. Leaving the table, a man stumbled over, blocking Sara's way. His breath stank of alcohol and vomit stained his shirt. "Hey pretty lady, would like some company tonight?" he asked. He was obviously too drunk to notice the Brotherhood insignias on herself and her companions. "No thanks," she said, trying to be civil. The refusal seemed to anger the man, "Hey lady, I gave you a compliment," The other Brotherhood members took notice of the man now. Tristan stepped forward, but Sara waved him back. She tried to get passed him but he grabbed her and pushed her back. He started to move to his belt, way drunker than she originally thought. Brock, the bar's hired muscle, moved towards the drunken man but the sound of a weapon being drawn stopped him. Another man, appearing less drunk, had drawn his gun.

"Lady my brother's a gentleman and it'd be rude for you to decline his request," the armed man said. Before anyone could move the armed man shouted in pain as a bottle collided with his head. The man that had grabbed her found his face slammed against the bar counter. He collapsed to the ground, crying. Ridger moved over to the man who he'd thrown the bottle at and kicked the gun away, lifting him against the wall. The man pissed his pants, seeing who he was dealing with through his drunken stupor. "Get the fuck out of this bar," Ridger whispered to the man, "And take that trash with you." He dropped the man, who ran to his brother. From his pocket, he pulled out a pouch and threw it on the bar counter and ran out of the bar.

Ridger left the bar after about a minute of them departing, no one standing in his way. After recovering from the shock of the scene Sara and the other members of the Pride chased after him. The ride back on the vertibird was silent. Kodiak attempted to pry into Ridger, but the stare of death that he received stopped him. Returning to the citadel he practically leaped off the aircraft and stormed off to the barracks.

Sara found him in his private quarters that was awarded to him after receiving the rank of Paladin. It was incredibly sparse. Aside from the bed, wardrobe, and desk the only thing in the room was a copy of the same picture of the Pride Sara had in her office and a picture of Ridger and his dad. He was packing, what little he had stored in the wardrobe. He slammed it closed, "I'm leaving," he said.

She was caught off-guard by the statement. "You can't just…leave," she told him, "There are protocols involved," he slammed his fist into the wall leaving a fist-shaped dent in. His face was filled with absolute anger. "I can't stay," he said, the anger replaced with sadness. He hefted the bag over his shoulder and walked right past her, "Goodbye Sara," he said walking out.

She didn't know how to feel about this. For the first time in a long time, she didn't fully know how to react. She had no options on the table. This had been completely unexcepted. He had walked past her, towards the armory to retrieve his armor and weapons. She just stood there, not knowing how to proceed. Finally, she decided to head to the courtyard and get fresh air. Exiting she saw Ridger standing on the door used by Liberty Prime. She started marching towards him, to talk to him when a blue light enveloped him. He began to rise and everyone moved away from it. He continued to rise and rise and rise and then disappeared. Sara shed a tear having lost a close friend, and maybe something more.

Author's Note

I don't really know how to feel about this chapter. I'd like to point out that I've had this one sitting around for a few months, this is as good as I could get it. Maybe I'm over thinking it, I don't know but any advice on this one would be really appreciated.

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