Chapter 6: One More Tomorrow – Frankie Carl
I don't own this stuff, I just write about it whilst humming to myself
POV: Cait
Agony lanced from the grotesquely mangled ruin of her leg and arced through her entire body setting her nerves alight. Gritting her teeth against the exquisite pain, Cait pulled forward a few more inches, dragging the leg behind her and fighting to keep conscious. Her throat was afire with thirst and her head swam with a swirling miasma of confusion and nausea. Utterly spent despite only travelling a scant few feet over the last couple of hours, she rolled over onto her back and stared up at the glaring sky, the sun blazing overhead as if in rebuke to the fiery redhead.
She had dangled from the tram railway for the better part of the afternoon, the position too precarious to climb back up and the drop too far to safely land. As if to offer some limited mercy, Mother Nature unleashed a cold rain that deposited enough clean water to turn the ground below her into mud. Closing her eyes tightly against the brazen idea, she jerked her body back and forth, attempting to dislodge the safety belt that held her in its tentative grasp. Her heart leapt up into her throat as she felt gravity exerting its hold on her and pulled greedily and with hair raising speed.
The sudden impact drove the air from her lungs and the hideous snap from her leg made it very clear that she had badly broken it. She must have passed out, for when she opened her eyes, the landscape was barely lit by pale moonlight. Luckily, she had had an unbroken bottle in her satchel and immersed it in the muddy water, giving her some provision. She sighed as she realized that aside from the bottle, she only had her knuckle dusters and a change of underwear. Glaring at the slick mud that coated her from the chest down, she flailed a little, whimpering as her leg reminded her how badly hurt she was.
For the thousandth time over the last couple of days, she cursed that bitch Nora, and she cursed herself, for signing on in the first place. Knowing that it would merely depress her, she looked back along her path and noted with dismay that she had crawled a hundred yards at best. She laid there for a time, looking up at the sun and aside from a lifetime of regret, found not one trace of true happiness in her life that she could replay while she died. So she replayed the next best thing, a recent memory of a drunken bar fight and getting fucked from behind by a very well-endowed Operator.
She was laying on her back, rocking back and forth… wait, that wasn't part of the memory. A flash of light was followed by a deep warm blanket settling over her and sending her into the arms of Morpheus. She rocked some more, side to side this time. Ok, now she knew that wasn't what happened at all. She was drunk and high but her memory wasn't that fucked.
"Please wake up, we're in big trouble." A man's voice whispered harshly, his hands gently shaking her shoulders.
She was lying on a pallet, bereft of clothes and despite the dim light, could make out what looked like some kind of generator room. Leaping up in a panic, she threw the man back and rocketed a fist into his jaw, speeding his descent to the dirty floor. She pinned him beneath her body, balling up the front of his shirt in her fist as she raised the other.
"Where the fuck am I and who the fuck are you!?" She snarled.
"Daddy? Why is the naked lady jumping on you? Are you playing?" A sleepy voice asked, a small girlish head popping up from underneath a threadbare blanket on another pallet. Another head joined her, a young boy wiping sleep from his eyes and gasping as he saw what had woken his sister.
Cait had the grace to be a little chagrined, her breasts heaving with adrenaline as she straddled their father, hand raised to beat the shit out of the hapless man.
For his part, 'daddy' looked anywhere but at the very nude woman pinning him down. Never in his wildest… well, maybe his wildest dreams, did he imagine helping to rescue a woman from dying of infection and dehydration, only for her to jump on him in the nude and threaten to beat him senseless.
"I'm sorry you are waking up to this… but we need to be quiet. We are in trouble."
"What are you…" Cait began, her question interrupted by a bellicose roar that shook the very ground.
"That was a…"
"Deathclaw." The man interrupted, "We need to be very quiet. I'll explain everything once we get through this."
"If we get through this." Cait muttered, she went from dying on a muddy field to being trapped in some utility closet with a farmer and his kids hiding from a damn deathclaw. Fate was a bitch.
POV: Morgan and Tacitus
Tacitus groaned as he tried to pick himself up off the ground. He regretted firing at the beast, but when it had dropped down from the ceiling, his panicked reflexes apparently chose fight over flight. The creature had then made its opinion known by running him over, the strength of it slamming into him like a freight train.
"It's alright. We're not here to hurt you." He heard his mistress say, clearly attempting to placate the deathclaw. From her sudden yelp, it was clear that it had no interest in talking. His eyes widened in shock and terror and he watched the creature swipe at her with a massive claw.
She slammed into the wall hard enough for stars to burst in her vision, her wand flying from her hand to clatter in the darkness. This creature was determined to kill both her and her thrall and it may very well succeed.
She spared a glance back at the generator room where the Walsh family had taken refuge with the mystery woman they had found dying in a pool of drying mud. She had sensed her magical potential and had taken it as a sign that despite the state of the world, magic was determined to return to this land. She had slept for the next day and a half, gently carried within the carriage as Morgan tended her wounds.
They had come across the 'bunker' that had apparently been the failed refuge of a mayor and his family. She had kept the family close to her as they explored, dispatching the few remaining traps with ease. Clearly tired and grumpy, Abigail and Liam needed to lie down, so Benjamin set them up with pallets in the utility room just off the large chamber apparently devoted to some sort of sporting activity. Tacitus, had retrieved the woman from the carriage and laid her there as well, best to keep her close in case she awoke.
Their luck had run out, as her thrall came rushing from a side passage, rough-hewn as if exposed by some tremor, a very angry deathclaw chasing after him.
Her vision was filled with the horned creature's visage, its eyes red with rage as it bore down on her with feral intent.
"Mistress!" Tacitus cried out.
She spared a glance in his direction to see him taking up her wand and tossing it in her direction.
It was a bad toss, made so by the deathclaw suddenly whirling to him when he shouted. Morgan extended her hand and called to it as it spun in the air, the wand veering in its path to snap into her palm.
She gasped as the beast swiped a claw almost lazily at her servant, the scythe like claws shredding through his leather armor and rending flesh. Blood sprayed as Tacitus mewled pathetically, his hands desperately attempting to hold in his organs even as he fell with a wet smack. He merely stared up at the deathclaw as it picked him up, shaking him and eliciting a scream from the former raider as glistening ropes of intestine flopped forth and slapped onto the ground. Bloody vomit burst from his mouth as he turned his head to his mistress, his eyes remorseful and apologetic.
The deathclaw roared as pain lanced into its back, the brief explosion of magical energy lighting up the chamber. He dropped the man and turned back to Morgan, her face set in furious defiance. It strode for her, leaving the man to die of its wounds while it dealt with the female.
A column of roaring white hot flame jetted from Morgan's wand and slammed into the beast's chest, arresting its forward momentum and even forcing it back. It roared against the pain as the fire ate away at its thick armored hide. It roared and surged forward, forcing Morgan to break off her attack and leap aside.
She could smell burnt meat and leather, the scales on its chest was blackened and cracked, cooked meat exposed beneath the charred flesh. It was clearly weakened from the wound, as it took longer for it to focus past the pain to locate her.
With a sigh of regret, Morgan focused her power on a metal stanchion and wrenched it free with a cry. She flicked her wand, the shard of jagged metal rocketing through the air and spearing the creature through the exposed flesh on its chest. It wailed pitifully as it clawed weakly at the metal spear, falling on its side as its heart, sundered by the stanchion, stopped its labored beating.
Morgan Le Fay limped over to Tacitus, frowning down at the hideously wounded man. He spared a smile for her, relieved that she was largely unhurt. She shook her head and summoned the magic to heal the worst of his wounds, the spilled intestines writhing like snakes as they 'crawled' back into his body. The horrifying wound was nearly sealed when she suddenly cried out, a red beam impacting her side and sending her sprawling to the floor.
"Hostiles detected." An obviously synthetic voice intoned. "Combat protocols engaged."
POV: Cait
Cait had watched all this in silence, astonished at the amazing things the woman could do. She narrowed her eyes as Gen II synths suddenly appeared and took advantage of her distraction, shooting her before she even knew it was there.
"Now, that does it. I've had enough of this shite."
Eyes blazing, she scanned the room and spotted the first aid kit mounted on the wall. Tearing it open, she greedily took the purified water and the bottle of buffout within.
"Ah, now we're talking!"
She strode to the door with purpose, pausing at the emphatic throat clear behind her.
She looked back and saw 'farmer bob' gesturing at her body with his chin, his hands planted firmly over his children's eyes and unaware that they were peeking through gaps between his fingers.
Yep, still naked.
"No worries. Synths don't much care and right now neither do I."
Knuckle dusters girding her fists, the first synth had no idea what hit it as her fist slammed into its head hard enough to fracture the casing and throwing sparks out the other side. It teetered for a moment, Cait taking the moment to wrench its head free from its body and hurl it at the next synth.
"Catch!"
The synth actually complied, its programming too rudimentary to correctly discern the correct course of action in the somewhat esoteric circumstance of having a fellow synth's head thrown at it. It attempted to reconcile the strange situation and looked up to see a bare foot gliding through the air straight at its head.
The back of her foot slammed into the synth and knocked it back, its central processor attempting to compensate with the proper protocols. It jolted as the woman's fist slammed into its chest, once, twice, three times. The third strike caused its outer casing to fall away, exposing its mechanisms to the gleefully howling mad woman. She reached in and grabbed something important looking, then leapt up and planted her feet on either side of its chest and pushed off, the small pump like motor ripping free from its housing.
Apparently it WAS something important, as the synth dropped like a stone and lay still. She caught her breath and took the opportunity to drink deeply of the purified water, emptying the emergency container and moaning with pleasure as the clean water coursed down her throat. She cocked her head at the distance sounds of still more synths moving through the facility. Her face alight with a feral grin, she tossed the empty container aside and moved off with a whoop of excitement.
"Daddy, is she crazy?"
"Maybe… but she's our kind of crazy."
POV: Harry
"Captain Ironsides, set course for Fort Hagen! We have some Rust Devils to vanquish!" Harry shouted, his excitement palpable.
"Right away sir! You heard the Admiral! Clear the mooring lines! Let's go boys!"
The frigate soared easily through the air, the wind howling even with the charms that had been cast to keep the wind from blowing them all off the ship. Instead, it was a stiff breeze, ruffling their hair and granting the journey an exhilarating air.
Harry waved down at the astonished settlers at Abernathy, the settlers gaping up at the massive ship soaring through the air. He couldn't help but chuckle at Connie Abernathy fainting into her husband's arms as they roared past.
A herd of Brahmin lowed and shuffled nervously as the shadow passed over them, but quickly forgot all about it as they single-mindedly set back to their meal of grass.
The Constitution flew about as fast as a mid-grade broom, and as such it took mere minutes for the massive satellite dish atop the hangar complex to come into view.
"Enemy forces spotted below sir!" Shouted a Mr. Lookout, who hovered inside the crow's nest.
Harry joined Daphne, Jon and Hermione at the prow and looked down at a rough fortification built up around the old-world military installation. From the shouts issuing below them, the Rust Devils clearly knew they were in trouble, sporadic gunfire and laser bursts began firing up at them from the ramshackle raider den.
"Those are Rust Devil's alright." Jonathan affirmed, pointing down at a brace of robots and raiders armored in the thick plates of robot parts.
"Captain!" Harry shouted, getting Ironside's attention, "Roll out the guns! Let's give them a broadside!"
"Huzzah!" Ironsides replied, raising his arms in salute.
The Constitution turned, placing its starboard side to face the encampment. A few more shots splattered against the tough hull of the old girl as the robots rolled the cannon forth and prepared them to fire.
"She's ready to fire at your command, sir!" The Captain reported.
"Fire!" Harry shouted with relish, getting caught up in the thrill of the encounter.
To the Rust Devils below, it appeared as though their pitiful shots had struck something vital, as the entire side of the ship erupted in smoke and flame. Their exultation was short lived, their shouts of triumph dying before fully born as they realized the terrible truth. A series of whistles heralded the 24 pound cannonballs streaking from each of the 15 immaculately maintained cannons on the gun deck. They struck like thunderbolts, a rippling wave of devastation that annihilated any hope for cohesive resistance.
Harry leaned dangerously over the rail, eyes gleaming with righteous anger as he surveyed the results from the mighty Constitution's salvo.
"Baubilious!" He shouted, directing his wand at a heavily modified protectron, the spitting lightning blasting into it and arcing into the surrounding raider totems. It collapsed with a moan of failing servos, parts of its now molten frame oozing like rivers of glowing blood. A single Rust Devil, also bedecked in heavy robot armor, yelled up at them, his voice sounding tinny and pathetic even as he punctuated his curses with assault rifle fire. A simple blast of red energy hurled him to the ground, his limbs splayed around him like a broken puppet.
Harry looked over and took in the satisfied look in Daphne's eyes as she lowered her wand. In what was becoming his signature move, Jonathan hurled himself over the edge, grasping the anchor as he fell and pulled it down with him, securing it to a partially blasted metal stanchion. He waved up at them and raised his gauss rifle, moving into the ruin with tactical efficiency.
Hermione nervously chewed her lips as she sought to catch a glimpse of the General amidst the smoke of the ruined fortress, releasing a breath she didn't realize she was holding when he appeared on a tower and gave them the 'thumbs up.'
The trio descended with their magic, their wands out even as their feet touched the scorched earth. They found Jonathan on a ledge just above the base of the massive satellite dish, tapping away at some kind of cobbled up computer terminal. They heard his grunt of triumph just before a security door opened up, revealing a small alcove with a trap door set into the concrete flooring.
With the soldier in the lead, the foursome made their way deeper into the Rust Devil lair, carefully picking their way through piles of technological detritus.
"This place is a treasure trove of muggle technology." Harry remarked, noting the various tools and objects so haphazardly strewn about.
They paused at the top of a ramp, the corridor turning to the right ahead of them. They paused and Harry could clearly hear the noisy preparations of one or more people or robots not far away. Peering around the corner, he saw that the ramp continued downward and at the far end was a raised platform with a Rust Devil standing guard with three vicious looking robot guards.
Harry looked over and saw Jonathan pull a few grenade like objects from his backpack, "What are those?"
"Pulse grenades. They won't do much against a man but will play havoc with a robot's systems. I toss these and lay down some suppressive fire. You three do your thing and bring them down. Focus on the Rust Devil though, like I said, the grenade won't hurt him much."
Harry nodded at the plan and readied his wand as Jonathan primed the grenades and rolled them underhand to clatter down the ramp.
"Hey! What the fuck?!"
Three searing blasts of electrified radiance exploded in rapid sequence at the base of the ledge, the robots clustered around it writhing as the lightning seemed to adhere to their metal frames. Harry leapt out from around the corner with a cry, sending a stream of hot pulses surging into the Rust Devil, his body jerking with each hit. He teetered for a moment before pitching off the ledge, Harry's magic having punched bloody holes straight through the hapless raider. Daphne and Hermione joined him, waving their wands and sending waves of force to crash into the robots.
"Brilliant!" Harry exulted, grabbing Daphne for a quick kiss. She blushed and smiled so widely that Hermione felt a stab of jealousy, looking to the General and wondering what it'd be like for him to congratulate her that way…
"Let's not celebrate too soon." Jonathan warned, "There are sure to be many more deeper inside."
"Spoilsport." Daphne complained, making a face at the seriousness in the General's demeanor.
"Let's just get on with it." Hermione huffed.
Daphne looked to Harry with a look that said, 'What's wrong with her?'
Harry gestured at the General's back as the man strode down the ramp, his weapon raised as he examined the body and wreckage.
"Hermione, take a look at this." He motioned toward one of the robots.
She bent down and raised the scorched metal pauldron gingerly, then held it up for Harry and Daphne to see.
"It looks like a rune."
"Eihwaz." Hermione affirmed, "It means defense."
"Are you sure?" Harry asked, since he hadn't made a study ancient runes himself.
"Oh yes. I got it wrong on the O.W.L., I never forget something once I get it wrong."
"What did you answer?" Jonathan asked, always curious about the magical world, "and what's an O.W.L.?"
"O.W.L.s are tests given in each subject in Wizarding School. The scores determine if you can advance in that class in subsequent years and if you can get certain jobs when you graduate." Harry explained.
"I wrote 'ehwaz', which means partnership." She murmured.
"They sound the same." The muggle General admitted, "in any case… what does it mean?"
"It means that magic is involved. The witch or wizard may have inscribed these runes in order to make them more capable in battle. Done the right way, a rune of defense can protect against any number of different types of attack. I suspect that these runes were applied to protect against normal bullets and the like. If you had come in guns blazing, you may have had a hard time of it with one of your machine guns."
"Well, whoever did it isn't that well-versed in muggleship. Robots are already pretty tough against bulletocity. It would have been better to protectify them against electo-ouchy type stuff."
Harry cracked a grin and even Hermione allowed herself a small smile at the General's made up vocabulary. What he said made sense though, once you filtered out the man's lame attempt at humor.
"Let's just be glad that he or she isn't." Harry declared, "Let's get on."
They moved through the facility like a well-oiled machine, the combination of the General's combat prowess and Harry's skill at slinging spells in battle meshing well. Hermione and Daphne's contributions were overkill, as they stream-rolled over everything the Rust Devils threw at them. They eventually came out into a large room that was strangely empty of adversaries, something that made the hair on Harry's neck rise on end.
"Now that is one ugly tosser." Daphne declared, eyeing the massive robot decorated with an abundance of skulls and spikes.
"Almost as ugly is that thing." She muttered, indicating the clear glass dome with a yellowed brain inside.
"You aren't much to look at either." The machine voice declared, the red stripped lighting shifting to indicate that it was the brain that was speaking.
Overcoming their shock at the talking brain, they questioned it and soon discovered that the arrogant creature was once a fully embodied servitor of the Mechanist, but refused to help further unless it was liberated from the Rust Devil facility. If they hadn't needed the information 'Jezebel' possessed, Harry would have been just fine with leaving the rude thing down there to rot. With a sigh, Jonathan detached the head from the machinery and tucked it into his backpack, shoving it in only marginally harder than purely necessary.
"Do you hear that?" Daphne wondered aloud, turning about to catch the source of the odd rumbling.
"Unit designation: Ahab. Intruders detected. Combat protocols initiated. Objective… EXTERMINATE."
A massive gout of flame washed over the computer terminal, the girls screaming as Harry and Jonathan grabbed them and pulled them down in the scant protection offered by the rapidly heating metal device.
Jonathan tossed a pair of pulse grenades over the device, his hand blistering as they contacted the white hot flames. Thankfully, the grenades detonated despite the searing heat and momentarily halted the deluge of fire. The four scattered out from behind the console, all except Jon moving to put as much distance between them and the sentry bot.
It recovered quickly and roved forward on massive treads, the deathclaw skull head sweeping from side-to-side as it tried to cogitate the best method of attack. Harry saw Jonathan attempting to sneak around the robots back and sent a quick blast of lightning into 'Ahab'.
"Aw crap." Harry frowned, noting that the lightning actually struck some sort of shield, its arcs splaying out around a magical barrier of some kind. He surged from behind the workbench he was crouched behind just as Ahab bathed the area in white hot death. Daphne shouted and sent a bead of fire down at the robot.
The small mote blossomed into a respectably sized fireball on impact, the force of the detonation actually making the robot rock slightly. Harry noted that her spell had hit it, the mystery wizard or witch apparently only shielding the robot against electricity.
The trio blasted the robot with a variety of hexes and curses, trying everything they could to keep the killing machine distracted.
The robot went into a frenzy when it felt the General clamoring onto its back. It tried to bludgeon him with its arms and when that failed, began to back up as if to smash the irritant from its back against the walls of the hangar. Jonathan cried out as he tried to scramble out of the way but got his leg caught between the robot's back and the wall, concrete and plaster raining down him as he struggled. Ahab rolled forward, intent on repeating its attack.
Harry felt his heart stop as the General, clearly hurt, used his good leg to kick down at something on the robot's back. The sentry bot revved and surged back but stopped with a jolt so hard that Jonathan was thrown from his back to smack against the wall. The robot turned slowly, revealing a cracked casing showing a pair of fusion cores.
"Shoot the cores!" Jonathan shouted, scrambling away from the robot, his left leg laying still and useless.
Harry adjusted his glasses and took a deep breath before carefully aiming, "Confringo!"
The fiery blast detonated right on the mark, the brilliant orange flame overshadowed almost instantly by the double fusion cores exploding with their substantial stored energy. Harry shielded his eyes against the glare and prayed that Jonathan got away in time.
He turned just as Jonathan fell, the man having braced himself on the other side of some kind of robot pod. He slammed into the metal grated floor with a profound, "Ouch!"
Surprisingly, a couple of stimpacks and a healthy gulp of water later and Jonathan was just fine, though his clothes didn't fare nearly as well.
"That was some good shooting, Harry. I'm going to have to write down how many I owe you, getting hard to keep track."
Harry chuckled and clapped him on the back, just grateful that he survived. From the look on Hermione's face, she felt the same, though when she noted Harry looking at her, she turned away quickly and feigned a cough.
If they had thought that the battle was the hardest part of their endeavor, they were clearly lacking in imagination, Harry later grumbled. 'Jezebel's' constant stream of criticism becoming a serious hazard to her continued existence. It was likely that irritation that caused them to be surprised by what looked like an Ada type ninja robot, scythe like blades arcing through the air as it tried to bisect the foursome.
A power armored raider, the apparent leader of this gang, followed on the heels of her assassin 'bot and hefted an odd yellow gun which sparked with fury as it sent jolts of lightning at the group. Hermione found herself jerked to the side as Jonathan yanked her from the path of the electricity, the spitting line of crackling white spearing him instead. Hermione cried out as the General groaned, clutching his chest in agony as smoke wafted from his scorched clothes.
He tried to shake it off as the assaultron loomed over him, its bladed hands raised for a coup de grace. Harry noticed Jon's predicament but was pinned by lightning from the raider leader and was helpless to lend aid. Daphne fought on Harry's side and forced the power armored assailant back with several well placed strikes though the mad raider kept up the pressure with her lightning gun despite the attack.
Hermione flourished her wand and gripped the robot with her power. With a cry of desperation, she hurled the automatron straight up into the ceiling, the crackling glow from its head laser dying out as its head was unceremoniously flattened against the unyielding concrete barrier. Harry breathed a sigh of relief and refocused his efforts on the raider, whose power armor seemed to be girded against numerous types of attack. The tesla coils on its shoulders seem to lend malevolence to the raider's attacks, her voice shrieking with madness as she raked them with her weapon.
Harry narrowed his eyes as he poured more power into his shielding charm, sweat pouring from his forehead at the strain her assault was having on him.
"Daphne! Hermione! I need you to shield us! I have an idea!"
The girls nodded before replacing his shield with their own, the renewed defense taking much of the bite of the raider's attack. The shields overlapped and incandesced as they absorbed the immense power flowing from her weapon.
"Accio fusion core!" Harry shouted, his efforts rewarded with a soft pop from the back of the raider.
The tesla coils died down immediately and the sheer power behind the lightning gun diminished noticeably. Taking advantage of the lull, Jonathan leapt up with a cry and put every ounce of his augmented strength to push the hapless Rust Devil through the window to crash on the floor two stories below.
The raider was laying insensate on the floor, her limbs barely moving as she struggled weakly beneath the weight of the armor.
"She landed on her back!" Jonathan shouted, "She won't be able to leave the armor like that. We need to get down there and put an end to this!"
Harry didn't need to be told twice, grasping the still struggling General, he leapt over the balcony and arrested their momentum mere inches from the ground. Jon collapsed on the ground but waved away Harry's concerned look. Noting that Daphne and Hermione were following them down, he turned his attention back to the raider, who had seemingly stopped her struggles.
He approached, lowering his wand to wipe the sweat from his brow. He jerked it back up when the raider, in a burst of strength, rolled the power armor onto its side and escaped her metal prison with an agonized grunt, blood running in streams down her body as her flesh tore on the mangled edges of the armor plates.
She snarled at the four, her grease lined face and angry expression greatly diminishing what would otherwise have been a lovely Hispanic woman. She threw her gun at them with a cry of frustration, Harry easily dodging the flimsy attack.
Harry was beyond shocked when the woman whipped out a wand and sent a bolt of sizzling red energy at him. Years of experience and a natural talent for dueling came to the fore as Harry whipped his wand up to block the hostile spell. The woman's eyes widened somewhat at her failure but pressed her attack, firing bolts at Harry as quickly and furiously as she could, despite her painful wounds.
Hermione and Daphne looked up from the prone Jonathan to see Harry expertly blocking curse after curse as the dark witch attempted to rain devastation at him. She was clearly tiring and Harry took full advantage of her flagging assault, launching attacks of his own while simultaneously blocking hers.
All three of the onlookers gasped at the speed and ferocity of Harry's spellcraft, his skill at dueling clearly unaffected by their long sleep. He seemed ablaze with life as he relished being in his element, one on one against a witch who had corrupted herself dappling in the dark arts.
The woman's expression grew desperate as she realized just how overmatched she was. Harry twirled his wand with a relish and relieved her of her wand, her hopes dying as it flew from her fingers. She flew back, folding in on her stomach as Harry pummeled her with a fantastically powerful stun, hurtling the witch back several feet.
She lay on her back, panting and heaving with fear as Harry stood over her, his wand pointed at her face.
"Now, you are going to explain yourself." Harry commanded, his tone brooking no disagreement. Confusion warred with determination as a pool of inky blackness spread out from beneath the woman like a growing stain of dark blood. Noting his confused expression, the woman looked around and saw the darkness spreading beneath her.
She exploded into hysterics, writhing and kicking to pull free from the growing abyss that seemed to drink in all light.
"Guh! No father, please! Father!" She screamed and pleaded, even as shadowy hands reached up from the pool to subdue her frenzied struggles.
She even reached out to Harry, "Oh god! Please help me!"
The sheer terror in her voice compelled Harry to act at once, leaping forward to grasp the woman's hand. The shadowy force began to pull at her, Harry sliding forward as he strained with all his might to keep hold of her arm.
The woman sobbed pathetically as the inexorable pull increased, "Puh-please! Kill me! Kill me! Aw fuck, kill me please!"
Harry felt his heart stop, what was so frightening that this woman, who just minutes ago was a strong warrior witch leading a contingent of ruthless raiders into a woman pleading for death?
He got no opportunity to ask, as the woman was ripped from his grasp into the pool, which closed around her retreating form with amazing alacrity. The echoes of her frantic screams echoed through the chamber and sent a chill down all their spines.
"Finally, good riddance." The robotic voice of Jezebel intoned.
In swift fury, Jonathan stood up and grabbed the robot brain from his pack, dropping kicking it with malice to bounce around the concrete walls as the robot wailed.
"Wish you'd have let me do that." Harry commented, his expression dark with the revelation that they were dealing with a powerful dark wizard or witch.
"I'll go get her, give you a go." Jonathan muttered, wincing as his wounds started to catch up to him.
"No, better not damage her too much, we still need her help to find the Mechanist." Harry lamented, "But maybe now she will act as smart as she says she is and keep her bloody mouth shut."
POV: Harry
An hour later, the USS Constitution was cruising back to Red Rocket to drop off Hermione and Jon. They needed to continue their mission to stop the Mechanist and Harry was determined to head back to Salem. The others needed to be told about the threat, who he was sure was Jeremiah.
Daphne hugged Hermione and gave Jon a playful slap on the arm, "Take care of her will you?"
Jon nodded and gave her a kind smile, surprisingly placing an arm over Hermione's shoulder, "I will guard her with my life."
Hermione's shocked expression was pure gold. Harry shook his head ruefully and wondered (not for the first time) how two obviously brilliant people could be so blind.
Waving their farewells, the frigate lifted off and glided stately to the east. Harry stood hand in hand with Daphne at the forecastle, the pair silently taking in the sights as the ship headed for home.
Harry's heart leapt when Salem's walls came into view, Daphne's squeeze assuring him that the feeling was mutual. Remembering that they hadn't told them about coming back on a flying ship, he hurriedly sent a series of green flares into the sky with his wand, giving what he hoped would be taken as an all clear signal.
The turrets and guards didn't open fire as they flew closer, Harry ordering Ironsides to slow so he could lean over the rail and wave at the militia manning the walls.
He spotted George staring openmouthed at the flying ship and shouted down at the dumbfounded Weasley, "Ahoy there! Look at what we found!"
Harry had ironsides land the ship alongside one of the docks jutting from the east edge of the settlement, a crowd clamoring forward to gape at the sight and welcome Harry and Daphne back home.
"Bloody hell Harry! You know how to make an entrance!" George exclaimed.
"Coming from you George, that is quite the compliment." Harry agreed, grinning as the taller redhead gripped his hand firmly.
"Mr. Potter! Good to have you back! I should have known you'd pull off another amazing stunt!"
Barney Rook, a pair of Salem militia at his back, strode up the gang plank and snapped off a salute to Harry, "Permission to come aboard sir!"
"Granted. Barney, meet Captain Ironsides, the new Commander of the Salem Navy! Captain, this is Barney Rook, Commander of the Salem Militia."
"Capital to meet you sir!" Ironsides bellowed, "I look forward to my new post as Commander of this robot's navy and working with you to pummel the enemies of our glorious nation!"
Barney smiled sardonically and could only say, "Likewise."
"You know, I think we could fix up all these smaller boats to fly too!" George began to blab excitedly, gesturing at the fishing trolleys moored around them, "Will and I can get to work right away!"
"Whoah, whoah!" Harry shouted, forestalling the wizard before he could go tearing off, "Gather up everyone at the Church." His demeanor darkening as he continued, "I have some bad news."
It only took minutes for the bulk of Salem to assemble inside the church, the common area filled to bursting with the over two hundred residents of the growing community. Harry was pleased to see that the vault survivors mingled in with the others, showing that they were recovering from their ordeal and taking their integration into his community in stride.
"It's good to see you all, I want to hear about everything that's been going on since I left, but right now I need to warn you of a fire threat that faces us."
Voices rose in concerned murmuring at his dire tone. Harry held up his hands to quiet them all down before continuing, "As many of you know, we first came to Salem at the behest of a written invitation to all of us with magic. To come here and start anew. When we arrived, we found that the community we were expecting had failed… victimized by the greed and lust for power of one of their own. A wizard named Jeremiah. Now, due to the age of the ruin we found here, we thought that Jeremiah was long gone, perhaps dead. We were wrong." He drew in a shuddering breath, "I was wrong."
Daphne laid a hand on his arm, offering him the support he needed to continue, "Daphne and I rescued the General of the Minutemen and travelled with him and Hermione for a time. During our mission, we've discovered that these 'Rust Devils' seem to be working for Jeremiah."
"They were the ones who broke into our vault and kidnapped our loved ones!" One of the vault survivors shouted, clearly inferring from the name that they were the ones who invaded their home.
Harry nodded, "It makes sense. The descriptions you gave match up with the tossers we've been fighting lately."
"But why? Why did they take them?" A young woman wailed. More voices added to the tumult and drowned out Harry as he tried to placate the people. Remembering a tactic the Dumbledore once used, he augmented his voice with his wand.
"QUIET DOWN, YOU LOT!"
It felt like a mild hurricane blew through the room, everyone rocking back against the gale force wind that carried Harry's words. A little over the top, but it clearly got the job done.
"I don't know what Jeremiah is doing, or why. But he and his cronies clearly represent a threat to all of us. I wanted you to be aware of the danger and that I will face it, alone if I have to. But I will face it."
"We're with you Potter!" A settler shouted out, raising his fist into the air.
"Us too!"
"You can count on us!"
"We stand with you Harry!"
Harry felt a wave of relief at the optimism that seemed to have infused even the pitiable victims from the Vault.
"Now, I need to talk to some folks, you know who you are. The rest of you clear out and do what you can to get ready. There may very well be a war on our hands." Especially as Jeremiah undoubtedly knew that other wizards and witches were now in the Commonwealth, and he won't be happy that they disrupted whatever plans he had regarding Fort Hagen.
People filtered out and headed back to their business, heads together as they talked about ways they could contribute to the coming fight. The vault survivors seemed especially animated, as they now had a concrete goal to work towards: revenge for their dead and the potential chance, however slim, of rescuing their kidnapped loved ones.
Harry smiled at Daphne and pulled her along as they descended into the church's basement, where there was a little more privacy within the wizard's communal work area. He sat at the head of a long oaken table, Daphne sitting beside him as others began to filter in and take seats themselves.
He noted Barney Rook, George Weasely, Lilith Moon and her guardian companion Fingers. Doctor Anderson, Nearly Headless Nick, and the Grey Lady, Helena joined moments later. Neville tromped down the stairs, his grin at seeing Harry again making him appear even more lopsided than usual. Lastly, Susan Bones and Vincent joined them, the latter assisting Mr. William. Finally, huffing and disheveled, Piper with her omnipresent press hat firmly in place stumbled down with Nat on her heels.
The meeting was delayed for a moment as Nat leapt into Harry's arms, the young girl giggling as he twirled her around.
"Is it time for another broom ride?" She whispered conspiratorially.
"I've got something even better." Harry confided, you should check out the docks.
Her eyes widened, "So you really DID come in on a flying ship?"
At Harry's nod, the young lady whooped and ran right out of the room, nearly bowling her older sister over in her haste to see the marvel.
"Good to see you Potter." Piper grinned, taking his hand in hers in a firm but warm handshake. She cocked her head to the side saucily, "I hear you had quite the adventure out there. How about an exclusive?"
"You have my word, I'll tell you the whole thing."
"I'm going to hold you to that! With the press working so well now and those wonderful owls delivering papers to settlements all over the Northwest Commonwealth, I need more material for the next edition!"
"My word on it, Piper." Harry vowed solemnly, before breaking out in a grin when Piper slapped him playfully on the arm.
He sat back down and turned his attention to the people who had joined him in their impromptu meeting place. He looked around as if missing someone, "Is Luna not back yet? I thought she and Soleil would have returned by now."
"You know Luna." Neville interjected, "She probably got distracted by something only she could see. Though she did send word with your owl that she would be coming back soon." Neville couldn't quite hide the concern in his voice despite his assurances.
Harry made a mental note to look into that after this meeting. He turned to Barney next.
"I couldn't help but notice a few extra faces among your boys Barney, things going well there I take it?"
"You betcha! A little over a dozen of those Vault folks have signed on, we're up to 30 militia now. A few of them don't know a rifle from a smack on the ass, but I'll get them whipped into right shape. Figure we'll need them if this 'Jeremiah' fellow is as bad as you're implying."
"He's worse." Harry admitted, "Still, brilliantly done, Barney. Really."
"I've been helping Neville a bit, using those glowing fungi he found to clear the radiation from the soil. I think I found a way to get them to grow quickly, do their job, and then produce spores to carry them onward to new locations with more radiation for them to feed on. I've passed on the results to Neville and Vincent and I are getting ready to make the trip to Starlight."
"Great Susan! That will help loads. And thanks for agreeing to getting that cottage you found set up for us."
"It does have more flat land behind it, more crops can be grown there and it is in a good place for us to keep an eye on the north."
Harry was surprised, "I didn't know you were tactically minded Susan."
"Um, no… that last bit was Vincent's." She smiled shyly as the man beamed at her.
"Oh, and one more thing… I was curious about how the glow fungi would work in a potion, so I whipped something together that I think will do a better job of flushing radiation than that Muggle stuff, Radaway."
"Better how?" Barney asked, intrigued.
"Well, first off, you don't have to have it injected. You can either drink it or smear it on your skin."
"That's brilliant, Susan." Hermione added, clearly impressed by her work.
"I don't know if it works out yet though, needs to be tested." Susan offered meekly.
"I'll do it." Vincent was quick to jump in, his confidence in her ability taking the redhead aback a little.
"I, uh, mean that it needs to be tested in the lab first… with muggle science. I wouldn't want anyone to be hurt trying it before Mr. William and Doctor Anderson have had the chance to do their thing."
Vincent sat back down, blushing a little in embarrassment at how he jumped up like that and made a minor fool of himself.
Quick to change the subject and spare him any further embarrassment, Harry turned to Neville, "How are things with you Neville?"
"Things are great! The new seed crops that the Minutemen brought in are doing wonderfully. We've planted some just outside the walls since we've started running out of room in here. Plus, I've been able to trade for plant samples from the caravans, wonderful how much credit a simple reparo will get you. Some really fascinating specimens. You know, there's this plant that actually defec…"
"That's great Neville, thanks to you, we can eat well again!" Harry had to cut him off before he really got going, he really loved herbology and nothing made Harry want to go into catatonic shock faster than Neville talking about pollinating cycles and the like.
Harry kept the plastic grin firmly in place as he turned to Lilith next, the witch smirking at the expression.
"As you asked in your message, I went ahead and looked over the Vault residents for anyone that had magical ability. I'm sorry that none of us thought to do it before."
Harry waved away her apology, "We came from a world where there was an entire agency in the Ministry for that sort of thing."
Lilith continued, "Well, you were right, there are five people with magical talent in the group. A surprisingly high number given the low population of the vault, relatively speaking."
"That's amazing, Lilith! Do the others in their families know?"
"I took them aside and explained things, their families either took it with a sense of relief, a good explanation for the strange things that happen around their child, or were downright excited at the idea that their family member could be a wizard or witch."
"So who are these people?" Barney asked, though Harry suspected his reason may have been to move the discussion along rather than any real interest in their identity.
"A young woman named Rose, her parents were among those that were thrilled. Twin boys, Rufus and Renaldo Cruz. Their father, who I understand is their step-dad, was more along the relief side of things. Apparently, their mother had been taken in by the vault after she was found unconscious outside. She had some sort of slave collar around her neck and had been treated quite poorly before then. She died giving birth to them. Finally, there is an older man named Clarence Tyler, whose family had always lived in the vault and his grandson, Jon Tyler."
"We need to start them on lessons as soon as possible." Harry began.
"I'm already working on building a class schedule," Lilith interrupted, "but we don't have any wands to give them."
Ah, there was the problem. With no access to wands or the other materials vital to a wizard or witches education, there was a very real issue that their numbers would always remain low. Or that without proper instruction, a young boy or girl could potentially unleash an obscurus.
"I wonder if that's why their vault was targeted." Daphne mused aloud. The silence that followed her rhetorical question was palpable, the unseen threat hanging over them as a magical community looming over them as never before.
"A small and relatively isolated and 'protected' community with a larger than normal instance of magical talent? Yes, I am sure that Jeremiah would have been very interested in them." Harry stated grimly.
Any further speculation was halted as an owl's clarion call echoed through the magical lab, the snowy plumed owl swooping in and dropping a scroll onto the wooden table before wheeling over their heads in a playful way, hooting with mirth and flying back up to the rookery.
Daphne reached for the scroll and unfurled it, her eyes scanning rapidly as she took in the message.
"It's from Sunshine. A bloke named Nick Valentine is there and wanted to send word to you Harry."
"Yeah! He's the private detective, the one I asked to find Cait for us."
"Well, he managed to follow the trail of rumors of her and a wild vault dweller all the way to the Nuka-world transit center south of Sunshine. He says the old world theme park is held by powerful and violent raider gangs, and couldn't go on any further. He's going to stay put at Sunshine and wait for a reply. He also says something about a build-up of Gunner activity at their overpass close to the settlement. He's going to keep an eye on them for the settlers."
Harry nodded at the news, considering how best to proceed. As the realization dawned that it would probably involve him leaving Salem again he sighed mentally. He had been looking forward to a little downtime, plus he had things he needed to attend to here. But he had promised himself to find Cait and he couldn't very well leave Nick hanging out at Sunshine waiting on him.
"I'll send word back that I'll come out that way tomorrow. I at least want to spend one night in my own bed for once."
"Me too." Daphne agreed, her expression screwing up in confusion when Barney barked with sudden laughter. She looked at Harry and saw his eyes twinkling with mirth as well, the innuendo behind her statement suddenly coming to her. Her cheeks colored red but she didn't take back what she had said… she in fact did plan to spend the night in Harry's bed.
The meeting adjourned shortly after, with Susan pausing at the doorway to the church when Vincent called after her.
"Hi. Uh, Susan. Listen, I just wanted to apologize for anything I did that embarrassed you."
Susan shook her head ruefully, "Oh no. It's fine Vincent, really. You don't have to apologize."
Her breath hitched up in her throat when she realized how close he was to her. Now that he had quit smoking, he smelled… quite nice actually. She tentatively laid a hand on his chest, astounded that she could feel his heart pounding so fiercely. She looked up and nearly gasped at the intensity of his gaze, her mouth opening slightly of their own volition as his head descended…
"Hey guys!" Neville exclaimed, "Check it out! My tato experiments worked!" Neville proudly held out the results of his work, attempting to untangle the mess that the cross bred potato and tomato had produced. A healthy looked tomato plant was held in his left hand and a vine with a healthy looking potato was balanced in the other.
Susan gave him a slight smile and looked at Vincent furtively, suddenly overwhelmed at the agonized look on his face and the surge of emotion she had just been caught up in. She darted away, Daphne hurrying after her, shooting confused looks at both Neville and Vincent.
Vincent sighed and ran a hand over his face, leaning back against the doorway while Neville squeezed past, apologizing under his breath for the interruption.
"Be patient with her, Vincent." Harry said softly, as he came to stand next to him. "She's not used to that sort of attention. I can see that she likes you though. She just doesn't know how to show you just yet. Give it time."
Vincent smiled gratefully at Harry's encouraging advice, following in his wake as Harry declared that it was past time to tuck in for some lunch.
They found the diner packed, the tantalizing smell of sausage and vegetable stew making their mouths water instantly. The clamor inside was almost overwhelming, with people talking over one another and spoons clanking against rapidly emptying bowls.
A settler that Harry didn't know spotted them at the doorway and rushed over with two steaming bowls.
"You'll have to sit out here I'm afraid. But we got some nice patio furniture and a good deck to set them on now. Just across the street there, gives you a nice view of the water."
Harry and Vincent thanked the woman and walked over to the much quieter spot. They sat next to Barney and two of his militiamen, who merely grunted at them between spoonfuls of stew.
"Is it good?" Harry asked, amused at the spectacle.
"I don't know." A militiaman paused his smacking long enough to answer, "I'm eating it too fast to know what it tastes like. I'll let you know after my third bowl."
Harry felt a mild twinge of guilt, everyone had been on reduced rations so long that now that they had plenty, people were stuffing themselves as if it wasn't going to last.
"He's pulling your leg, Potter. It's delicious." Barney announced, just before a massive belch clearly punctuated the group consensus. "Here, have a beer."
It was no Guinness, but it was cold and it added to the comradery, the pleasant feeling of sitting with the boys eating good food and enjoying the view.
At the other end of Salem, a pair of young women were having a somewhat less pleasant time. Daphne had caught up to Susan just outside the apartment building where most of the single women lived.
"I don't know anything about love or romance or kissing or anything like that!" Susan wailed. Daphne was a little unsure of how to respond. Susan had always been a wonderfully naïve and watching her struggle with this was far less amusing now then it was when they were children at Hogwart's.
"Just take things a day at a time." An unexpected voice answered, the Grey Lady wafting by with a sad smile on her face. She reached out and stroked a ghostly hand on Susan's cheek, a gesture that the young woman couldn't feel physically but still appreciated.
"You needn't be worried. The young man is clearly enamored with you. There is almost nothing you could do to dissuade him at this point." Helena continued.
"Besides, your biology will go a long way to letting you know what goes where." Daphne added, a wicked look on her face.
Susan looked scandalized, but smiled as she jokingly slapped at Daphne's arm, "I know where things go." She murmured.
"Oh DO you now?" Daphne teased, the trio bursting into laughter.
Whatever distress Susan had evaporated in the comforting presence of her friends and the warm glow that accompanied the idea of Vincent and her 'putting things where they go'.
A/N: Slightly shorter than my normal updates, but I had to stop now or else this chapter would end up being much bigger than it should and would feel a little lopsided. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! As always, please leave a review and let me know how I am doing.