James took one step in the fog-ridden casino town and was already sick of it. Being the gambling hub of the Commonwealth meant the sector had the loosest set of laws and principles around. Because of a lack of some sort of official legal system, the place was riddled with transients, drug deals, gang members and the like. And Hale seemed to love it.
"Ah, home sweet home." Hale said as he stepped off the vertibird and threw a scarf over his face. James gave him a sour look as Hale passed by in his tux.
"Don't you have standards? I mean, come on, the streets smell like piss!" James complained.
"The whole Commonwealth used to smell like that." Hale replied simply. James stopped knowing that Hale had brought up a good point. Dogmeat rushed off the vertibird and ran ahead, apparently loving the fog.
"So this is Jamaica Plains." Marie said without adding any more commentary. James sensed that she felt similarly about the setting. Katherine walked behind the group silently as if she was studying every more. James found it odd that she seemed distant and changed in her two year journey to Chicago and back. He shrugged it off as the group neared the entrance of the casino.
James threw the door open, expecting a floor full of gambling machines and people running around and throwing caps. But it was empty. Hale's personal guard stood in attention by a door. There were a lot of casino machines but they appeared to be out of use.
"I thought this was supposed to be a casino." James said, inspecting a condemned machine.
"It's all a front. I moved all the gambling to the train." Hale responded as he led the way through the guarded door. "Easier for me that way to keep people like this."
James entered the room and found a group of six people all dressed in Vault-Tec colors. The extensive reports supplied to him by the Switchboard, Danse's Brotherhood, the Minutemen, and even some internal Enclave Intelligence reports had enabled James to become very familiar with faction colors. These were men and women of the Vault-Tec Federation.
"Well, I guess we're lucky we're on neutral soil then." James muttered as he stepped inside. Hale closed the door, leaving only himself, James and Katherine in the room. A blue pulse field appeared to have been fitted along the walls of the room to prevent the people from trying to run. They also appeared to have given up hope of escape as they were all seated or sleeping.
"How long have you kept them here?" James asked.
"Long enough for them to want to talk." Hale replied. James approached the cell. "They've been fed regularly, supplied water and bathroom trips all throughout the day. I tried to offer certain amenities, but they were interested in talking to you and you only."
"Hmm," James grunted in acknowledgment as he inspected the uniforms. They were brand-new. Padded and obviously having armor weaved into the cloth fabric in the manner that Vault 101 Federation troops like to do. Apparently these two factions were helping one another as James spotted a clear yellow 101 logo on the baseball cap of a sleeping man in the corner.
"Looks like they are from 101. Bring the one who was looking for me out." James ordered. Hale nodded and walked into the field. He must have had some kind of chip to allow him to do so as he walked through the field as if it were nonexistent.
"Why do you think they were looking for you?" Katherine asked.
"Not sure. But if they are from Vault 101, they're going to have a lot of answer for." James replied cynically.
"You're not going to torture them are you?" she asked, but not caring as she would have done before. This question sounded more like a formality.
"No. I don't want to have to resort to that." James replied. "Not today."
James took a seat behind a desk and flipped the lamp light on. The face illuminated turned out to be none other than Susie Mack.
"Susie Mack." James said in a pleasant tone. Katherine leaned the by the wall, arms crossed as she watched over the exchange like a hawk.
"James?" Susie asked, apparently not able to recognize him due to the darkness of the room. "Oh my God, James is it really you?"
"Yup." James replied. "It's really me. How have you been Susie?"
"I've been great, Amata and I have really got the Vault growing, we've been doing so much to help the people of the Capital Wasteland and-" Susie paused. "You've heard of what's been going on in the Capital Wasteland already, haven't you?"
James remained silent and allowed Susie to guess. The flight flashed on, waking the residents of the cell. Hale stepped away from the light switch and sat down next to James. Susie appeared to be intimidated by him as she flinched as Hale violently sat in the chair beside James.
"Why were you looking for me?" James asked suddenly, catching Susie off guard.
"We want you back, James." she replied simply.
"Why?"
"Amata never wanted you to leave." she said.
"And yet I was forced to leave anyways."
"She was sorry."
"I was still forced from my home." James said, visibly becoming angrier as he recalled the events that led to his expulsion for the second time from Vault 101. "I saved the Vault more times than I or any resident can count. Wally stole my room, desecrated my father's property. And I was forced to leave."
"We," Susie insisted. "were sorry."
"That's not how it happened, Susie." James replied softly. "Don't try to lie about it."
"Hey asshole!" a harsh voice called from the cell. James looked over slowly at the figure leaning on the field with his fists balled.
"Wally." James said through gritted teeth. "It is good to see you."
"We came here to offer you a place back in the Vault! Don't take it for granted! After everything you and dad did you're lucky that Amata still remembers you." Wally shouted. Susie looked away from her brother and back at James and sighed.
"Don't mind Wally, James." Susie said in a comforting tone. "He's only jealous that Amata never reciprocated his feelings."
"Is there a reason that I should care about his feelings getting hurt?" James asked.
"Amata never married, James. She's still been waiting for you." Susie said softly but seriously. "That's why we came to get you."
"Why should that affect in any way?" James responded.
"Because you have a son." James frowned and glared hard at Susie's face, trying to find any indication of her lying to his face.
"You're lyring." James muttered under his breath. "There's no way, it was only-"
"One night?" Susie asked, suddenly smiling. "Yeah, James. For some people that's all it takes."
James stared at her blankly as he thought of the events of his through the years.
"Why should I believe you?" James asked suddenly.
"You don't need to, James. I've done my job in coming here." Susie replied as if satisfied with her work. "Now what are you going to do, James?"
"That's not true." Hale suddenly interjected. Susie was alarmed at his interruption in what was a personal conversation. "I looked through their Pip-Boys and valuables. Their job is to scout out the Commonwealth and assist the Vault-Tec Federation in waging open war against the other factions."
"Wait, no, that's not true!" Susie protested. James looked at her with shame as he tried to determine if he still wanted to trust her or not.
"Put her back in the cell. Bring me the next person." James said quietly as Hale nodded and shuffled his way towards Susie and the cell.
The next person to sit before James was Wally Mack himself. The two glared at one another for a few minutes in silence as Hale lit up a cigarette and puffed away.
"It's been a long time since we last met, Wally." James blurted first.
"It's been 12 years." Wally replied gruffly.
"What? You miss me?" James said smugly. Wally exploded from his seat flipped over the table and grabbed James's collar. James had his pistol out aimed at Wally's groin. He showed no fear and was actually quite indifferent about the scuffle. Wally was infuriated for not seeing the move beforehand.
"You killed my dad." Wally growled.
"Only because he attacked me first." James replied while chambering a round. "Now let me go before you become as dickless as him too." he growled. Wally was furious but reluctantly let James go and sat back in his seat. Hale sighed as he flipped the desk over and flipped the cigarette aside.
"I know you draw fast kid but you could've done better than that!" Hale heckled.
"Shut up, man." James replied as he smoothed his jacket and resumed his seat. "I didn't want him to realize you had a grenade primed to go into the cell."
"What?" Wally asked, horrified. Hale shrugged as he plopped the grenade on the desk.
"Do you know who you're dealing with, son?" Hale asked as he reached into his tux and produced a 9mm pistol. Wally glared at Hale hard but said nothing. "You're dealing with three of the baddest people to ever wander the wasteland. You may be big in bad in the Capital Wasteland, but you really want to bet anything you've ever done is a match for anything the three of us have ever done alone?" Hale asked, almost growling.
"Three?" Wally was confused. He turned back to find that Katherine was loading a shotgun.
"Only in case of emergencies." Katherine said casually. James smiled. He still wasn't sure if that was a joke or her new normal behavior.
"Any smart person, would have their homework on us Wally." Hale said gruffly. "You claim to be smart. Taking over the Capital Wasteland with more advanced technology. I'm telling you right now, I know you Wally." Hale said, practically spitting in Wally's face. "And I got the world's best superpower: I'm rich." Wally's face contorted as he thought of possible responses. James realized that Hale was playing the bad cop role and that by getting close to Wally, Wally was bestowed with a front-row seat to the battle scars that Hale had faced in his time as a Courier.
"Alright, Wally. What are you here for?" James asked kindly, giving his old bully a smug smile.
"I wanted to make sure my sister was safe, coming up here and talking to you." Wally said, now suddenly timid and all bravado gone. "I did do my homework, I don't know who the other two are but I know you. I hated the idea of opening the Vault but once we did all we got were tourists want to learn about the Lone Wanderer. You have no idea how much that scared us."
"Scared you?" James asked.
"All of us. You were a legend. That means, you have enemies." Wally continued. "We needed to find a way to protect ourselves in case one day a bad guy comes in and decides to gun the people down just to get back at you."
"So you decided to take over the entire wasteland by force." James replied, making clear that he was disgusted with Vault's fascist behavior.
"It didn't start out like that. We were peaceful at first, diplomatic. But then people started fighting back, we needed a way to keep them in line. So we updated 101 Security measures and implemented it in participating settlements. Then people started moving in from other settlements but wanted their families in the settlements to be protected."
"We did that, we did everything they asked and then Megaton got angry. Threatened to invade. So we struck."
"By killing the town Sheriff?!" James spat.
"No, that wasn't us. Lucas Simms was a regular visitor of Vault 101 he always checked on your room after we gave him the tour. I personally found him to be a great guy, way better than you. But then he was murdered. And Megaton blamed. Why wouldn't we fight?"
James paused and realized that the issue, like any other was much more complicated that he first thought. He sighed and looked back up at Wally.
"Wally, we don't get along. I'm not going to pretend I like you. But I am sorry about your dad. And I'm sorry the wasteland was harsher than you think you deserve. But you have to get Amata to stop this. This militarization is getting people really worried." He glared at Wally to make it clear how serious the situation was. "So worried that they me to have to start dealing with it."
Wally nodded and headed back for the cell with Nathan.
The other members came and went. Freddie was glad to see James and they exchanged jokes and stories. Freddie was head of 101 Securities now though the Capital Wasteland was rough, the Vault-sponsored unification campaign really helped to reduce murders and overall crime. While he disagreed with James's belief that the settlements should adopt a more democratic system, Freddie generally got along with James and agreed that Commonwealth was shaping up to really become Pre-War Boston.
The last person to be interrogated was Christine Kendall, who James was surprised to see. While they didn't exactly get along, James always had a crush on her since he was 9 years old. He remembered being made fun of just because of that crush. Even Amata had gotten in on the heckling by the time James was sixteen.
"James." Christine said as she sat. "It's good to see you."
"I guess we've all gotten older, haven't we?" James joked. Christine hadn't changed at least in James's eyes and was still as beautiful as he remembered. She had grown out her hair though and kept it out of her eyes with a yellow headband.
"Oh shut up, you!" she complained, but also in a joking manner.
"So why are you guys up here?" James asked. Christine eyed her friends carefully but looked back at James in earnest.
"We're here to spy on the factions." she admitted. "We're meant to fold the Vault-Tec Federation into the Vault 101 Federation. Uniting two cities would be quite helpful in creating prosperous economies."
"Is that really the only reason you're here?" James asked. Christine seemed to have been a little hurt by the question. Her gaze softened as she looked up at James.
"I volunteered to get a chance to see you again." she admitted. James huffed and gave her a smile.
"What?" he asked. "The vault's prettiest girl looking for a reject like me?" James asked sarcastically. She rolled her eyes.
"I told you I don't hold any of that against you."
"You're the not only one who lives in a vault Christine." James replied. He stood from his seat. "Is there anything else I need to know?" he asked. Christine eyed her friends again. She slipped a piece of paper onto the desk.
James grabbed the paper and found it to be a note. It was instructions for a meeting to occur in two days. It was from Amata.
"So that's why." James said. "You guys must have really worked hard in order to make it up here in time. It's about a three month hike up from the Capital Wasteland!"
"We took Nadine's boat up here. She's waiting for us now as we speak." Christine said. "She's apparently very keen on seeing you too."
"What the Hell?" Hale asked, laughing.
"You are really popular with women, aren't you James?" Katherine asked, amused as well. James shrugged.
"Hey, I'm only human." James replied, laughing.
"Will you come with us, James?" Chrisitine asked, giving James a worried look. James could only respond with a smile.
"If I go back, things are going to have to change Christine." James said sadly. "I'm not going home to a dictatorship."
"Isn't that what the Enclave is?" she asked.
"Not anymore. I'll meet with Amata, but on my terms." James said. "You tell her, that I'll come when I intend to." Christine nodded slowly.
"Anything else you want me to tell her?" she asked.
"No."
"Weren't you already prepared to head to the Capital Wasteland?" Katherine as they waited in the lounge.
"I needed them to think I could come at any time I wanted." James responded as he drank his whiskey.
"You can though, right?" she asked. James nodded as he set down his cup.
"Yeah, I can." James sighed. He leaned back on the couch, taking in the soft fabric that felt that he melted into.
"Why do you want to go back?" Katherine inquired. James thought about the question for a bit.
"I'm not sure." James responded. "When I first came back, home was very different. Now after everything that has happened. I'm not sure if I'll recognize it again."
"Are you sure you're ready for this trip?" Katherine asked. James took a large gulp from the whiskey.
"Definitely not." he sighed.
"So Maxson's coming for the Commonwealth, this Amata is too. How many threats are you facing already, James?"
"Three."
"Three?"
"Maxon's Outcasts are coming from the West. Amata's Vault Dwellers look to come from the South. East is another faction I haven't pinned down yet. But I have no doubt that someone's coming from the seas." James replied darkly.
"The seas? You mean from Europe?" Katherine asked.
"I think so. Some settlers showed up in the Capital Wasteland and started taking people by force, enslaving them. I've never met them but reports always called the Great Empire."
"The Great Empire?"
"Yes. Soldiers that wore red, spoke funny accents and used weapons that are definitely unfamiliar to locals. They have to be from off continent."
"Huh, so three forces gunning for the Commonwealth it is." Katherine said raising her bottle of beer at James. James clinked his shot glass with her bottle and drank in silence. "Looks like you have quite the task ahead of you."
"Ahead of us, Kat. You're back. This is your show." James said softly as he looked at Katherine. She sighed.
"I don't want this responsibility James."
"Few people do." he admitted. "But the people look at you for help. You're the one they want. Not me. You have to be that person."
"I'm not the same girl I used to be, James." she admitted. "The simulation changed me."
"It changed everyone who went into it."
"No, I can fight now, but now I don't care about every life I take. I'm compromising the morals that made me who I used to be."
"Don't worry about that, Katherine. Deep down, your morals are yours. The ones that you don't and can't compromise are the ones that matter. So compromise where you can, and where can't, don't."
"Huh, great line." Katherine returned. "Come up with that by yourself?"
"No, heard it on a holotape."
"So apparently you have a son, James." Katherine said wickedly. He looked at her and knew she was ready to make fun of him for not settling down.
"You'd be surprised how many times I've heard of that rumor before." James said shamelessly as he poured himself another glass.
"You have more than one son?" she asked in shock. James gave her a look.
"Don't be like that." James said as he drank more of his beverage.
"I just can't believe that the Great Lone Wanderer is such a philanderer!" Katherine said, pretending to be amazed with him. "How many?" James coughed and nearly choked.
"Why?" he croaked.
"I'm curious." James frowned and thought about the question.
"I don't think this is a road either of us want to go down."
"I do." James sighed.
"None of these are confirmed, I've yet to see any proof.." James began. Katherine gave him a sour look. "I think four?"
"You have four kids?!"
"It's not we have protection or anything okay?!" James cried out in frustration. "They just happened and I left."
"You left?"
"I left. Like I always do."
"Wow you are the epitome of a scumbag father!" Katherine laughed. James frowned.
"I don't find it funny.."
Suddenly the door slammed open and Nate walked into the room with Hale.
"Vertibird's ready to go boss. Let's take the Prydwyn out for a ride!" Nate smiled. James nodded.
"Oh they have no idea what they're in for." James laughed as he stepped out into the light, flanked by some of his best friends.