Getting Fawkes out of his locked isolation chamber was rather easy - just had to trip the fire alarm. The downside: every locked room would open, and most of them were filled with more centaurs. Juliet readied her laser rifle. Bring it on, ugly fuckers she thought.
"Finally... freedom!" Everyone heard Fawkes screech in joy. "True freedom!" Followed by the sound of a centaur's head getting bashed in by a super sledge. Gross.
There was also a guy named Sid, now free from one of the locked rooms. He quietly approached them and swung a pipe wrench at the back of Juliet's head. "Oh, shit!" Sylvia gasped. "Juliet-!"
Charon growled and lunged at Sid, throwing the pipe wrench right out of his hands. Sid yelled and tried to punch him but the ghoul was superior. Charon smacked him with the end of his shotgun so he hit the ground, followed by unloading an entire clip into the bastard, even after he was dead at his feet.
"Charon!" Sylvia interrupted. "What the hell man?"
"Is everyone alright?" Fawkes asked as he stomped his way over to them down the red vault hallway. Dogmeat licked Juliet's face as she got herself up with the help of Sylvia. Her brain... her Vault-Tec brain was telling her that her head was injured. What it didn't tell her was that she was bleeding.
"Oh?" Juliet remarked, falling forward and rendering unconscious. Well, mostly unconscious. She could barely keep her eyes open and what little she saw was blurry. Her mind was showing her the Vault-Tec mascot - that little blonde man who wore blue and always smiled, only this time he was all green and his head was... flashing.
Yes, no shit little blonde man. Her head was injured.
She ended up in Charon's arms per orders of Sylvia. He mumbled and complained the entire walk to retrieve the G.E.C.K. that Fawkes led. It felt like they went up a floor and across the entire vault before they stopped at a door with a terminal. "You all stay here," Fawkes ordered. "There's nothing but radiation back there. I'll go get the case and bring it back."
As he stomped off, Sylvia stuck a stimpak into Juliet's neck. "OW!" She screeched. "You couldn't count to three?"
"My dad told me once that anticipation is the worst," Sylvia told her. "You should be feeling better soon."
"Thanks." Juliet scrambled out of Charon's grip and looked up at him. She wanted to thank him too, but he would just shrug it off. Or flat out ignore her. It hurt to think about.
When Fawkes returned, he handed the case to Sylvia and bid them all farewell. They let him leave in peace and silence. "So... do we go back the way we came? Back through Murder Pass?" Sylvia wondered after he was gone.
"Yeah, yeah," Juliet answered. "There are no other entrances to this place except for the one covered in radiation we can't get to."
"What, do you have the blue prints to this place?" Sylvia joked as they began the long walk back.
"Yeah, yeah," Juliet repeated bluntly. "I can see it all in my head."
"Oh-?" Sylvia said nervously. "That's... cool?"
The next few minutes were spent in silence as Juliet took charge. Sylvia completely believed her about seeing it all in her head. She was mostly unconscious on their way to this side of the vault, and now she was leading them back as if that never happened.
The Lone Wanderer smiled. This girl was definitely more than a valuable asset. She was becoming an ally. And a friend. A connection to Charon's past she was still curious about.
"Did we pass through that room up ahead?" Juliet pointed out. The mechanical door was already opened, revealing a darker room that was completely empty.
"Yeah, I remember it." Sylvia answered.
They stepped in. "We should go back." Juliet heavily advised.
Sylvia blinked. "Why? This is the only way-"
Juliet knew she was the only one who would see head on what was about to happen. She didn't see who threw it, and she didn't exactly know what it was that was thrown, but she was about to find out. They were all about to find out. She first assumed it was a grenade and this was the end for them.
But it wasn't a grenade - it was a flash bang. Juliet's head felt fuzzy and it hurt. She landed on her back which put new pressure on her head wound. She could feel the blood start oozing again.
A couple of soldiers in tesla filled power armor trekked in from the other side wielding mini guns.
And then... him.
Him...
Him-!
The man who shot Juliet's mother. The man who forced Sylvia's father to kill himself.
The man with a joke of a name - the man who didn't deserve it.
Colonel Autumn.
"Objectives secured, sir." One of the soldiers reported to him.
"Good. Make sure the G.E.C.K. is safely boarded on the vertibird," Colonel Autumn instructed, kneeling down to an immobile Sylvia. "Prepare her for transport. And the Vault-Tec girl, too."
"Yes sir."
"I'm scared... of losing the war. Everyone's going into the vaults. I don't like it."
"You mentioned before you dislike Vault-Tec."
"The war with China? We did this to ourselves. Hiding in a vault is like running away from your problems. I don't want to run."
"Then what do you want?"
"I want it all to be over."
"Is he talking to himself?" Charon heard a familiar and cranky young boy speak rudely.
"Be quiet, Mayor," a young girl retorted. "Hey Charon, how do you feel?"
"Juliet-?" Was the red ghoul's first word.
"She wasn't with you," Lucy of Little Lamplight replied. "It was just you, your dog, and... the friendly monster."
"I am not a monster," Fawkes bluntly yelled. "I am a meta human!"
We'll help you forget. We'll help you get better. You're going to be just fine, Charon.
"I don't want to forget anymore!" Charon yelled angrily. "I want to remember! I want the pain again! I want her again!"
"What-?" Lucy and Mayor MacCready asked in confusion.
"I want... Juliet." Charon breathed deeply. "I waited. I waited... so long for her... and she came back. I need to get her back."
"The humans in power armor took the girls," Fawkes remembered. "Do you know where they went?"
"The Enclave?" Mayor MacCready assumed. "Don't they have a base north of us?"
"Raven Rock," Charon realized. "They took the G.E.C.K."
"We'd better get going," Fawkes suggested. "We've got some damsels in distress to rescue."
"Wait!" Lucy yelled out, but Charon, Fawkes and Dogmeat escaped her tiny little office. "What is the world coming to? Monsters are going after to save Mungos!"
A tall red ghoul and a giant yellow super mutant trampling through the front of Little Lamplight to get outside while accompanied by a dog was a terrifying sight for all the residents. "Goodbye little humans!" Fawkes managed to yell out while following Charon out, and proceeded north.
It took over four hours to reach Raven Rock. For the first time in... 200 years Charon's lungs hurt and he gasped for air. He breathed in and out. That fresh, Capital Wasteland air. His head started to hurt from inhaling too much oxygen - and he loved it.
Dogmeat started barking as they neared the Enclave base. There were a few of their soldiers patrolling the entrance, wielding big, heavy looking weapons. "No more games!" Fawkes yelled, scaring the shit out of the soldiers by charging at them head on with his super sledge. "Time to die!"
Charon was utterly confused. Did all super mutants say the same exact things, or what? Regardless, he pulled out his trusty combat shotgun and helped Fawkes and the stupid dog take down the Enclave soldiers. As they shot, bashed, and bit their way to the front of the rocky mountain, a giant metal door suddenly swung open.
Fawkes picked up one of the large weapons a now dead soldier had. "This looks fun!" He laughed, and began to use it. A gatling laser, Charon recognized when he saw it. Those things were pretty bad ass.
Moments later, Charon's blonde haired employer emerged from the mountain. She looked out at the scene before her, and revealed a grin. Juliet came out behind her, with gauze wrapped all around the top of her head, nearly down to her eyes to where she could barely see. "Charon!" She called out.
"Juliet-" He rasped. She was okay. She was here, here in this fucked up world that they both somehow survived in.
He was never going to get tired of saying or hearing her name. He needed to tell her that he remembered again. He allowed himself to remember again.
Sylvia and Juliet made their way down, the mountain behind them completely erupting with explosions. "What happened?" Charon demanded.
"Autumn's a real prick, that's what happened," Sylvia answered. "President Eden wanted to talk to me so I had to fight my way to him. I found Juliet strapped to a table; they were probably going to mess with her brain or something. She's also got a real knack for Science, so she convinced Eden to shut himself down and blow up the base."
"Miss Wozniak would be proud." Juliet gleamed.
Now that Charon didn't block the memories he was conditioned to block, it slowly started coming back. He remembered Miss Wozniak. Their chemistry teacher. Instead of acknowledging this he instead said, "What's our next move?"
"We've got to get back to the Citadel," Sylvia answered. "We're going to need their help getting the G.E.C.K back."
"You'd better get moving then." Fawkes advised.
"Why don't you come with us-?" Sylvia suggested. "It looks like you know how to handle your new toy pretty well."
Fawkes laughed. "Yes I do! You guys are the only people I know in this world... I'd be honored to go with you."
It took the rest of the day to get back to the Citadel from the other side of the Wasteland. The moon was bright tonight as they approached the guards to the Citadel. Paladin Bael's eyes widened upon recognition. "You're alive!" He exclaimed. "You'd better get over to the lab-"
"Is that a super mutant?!" The other Knight guard interrupted.
"He's with us," Sylvia urged. "So, the lab you say? On it."
Fawkes felt slightly uneasy during the trek through the Citadel. Everyone, literally everyone looked either afraid, or ready to kill. "Elder Lyons!" Sylvia screamed upon entering the laboratory. "Elder Lyons!"
The Elder was standing in a group of Brotherhood soldiers, his daughter Sarah included. "You're back," the Elder simply said. "We feared the worst. Were you guys successful?"
"We don't have time to talk; we have to get out of here now or we'll lose Project Purity!" Sylvia exclaimed.
"We've gotten reports that the Enclave presence has been increasing there," Elder Lyons noted. "What happened?"
"They took the G.E.C.K and they're going to install it!" Sylvia screeched. She handed the Elder a small vial. "President Eden wanted me to sabotage the project with this. I didn't trust him. Now, we have to go!"
Elder Lyons immediately passed on the vial to Scribe Rothchild. "Sarah, we've got to give you and the Pride backup. Rothchild, it is ready?"
"Not at all!" The Head Scribe said in horror. "I mean, we fixed the power problems but we've barely ran diagnostics-"
"Enough!" The Elder spat. "Will it work?"
"We can try." Rothchild muttered.
"Very well... Sarah. You and the Pride will accompany these people to the Purifier and stop the Enclave. The robot will help you." Elder Lyons instructed.
"Yes sir!" Sarah replied, turning to the Pride and sputtering orders. Scribe Rothchild went to the terminal to activate the newly finished robot that Juliet was nearly in love with. It was giant, and tall... very tall.
Did she mention tall yet?
The robot was getting assembled top side in the dark while Sarah Lyons was looking for recon armor for both Sylvia and Juliet, officially inducting them into the Pride.
Huh. Juliet finally thought of her father. He was a heavily traumatized soldier who served in Anchorage. The fear of the Commies and just going against them was enough to fry his brain. What would he have thought of her indirectly joining this Brotherhood of Steel?
Juliet remembered when her mother received a letter from his brother, who was also in the service and also stationed in Anchorage for a time. He expressed concern for his brother after the liberation of Anchorage. It seemed like Autumn promptly ignored it, for she never brought it up until after Shawn had went back after his short leave during Christmas.
She sighed mentally. She missed her dad. Now she missed her mom even more.
Colonel Autumn- no, Colonel Asshole was going to pay for what he did. He had a pissed off Brotherhood, a pissed off Lone Wanderer, a pissed off Vault-Tec human and a pissed off Commie-killing robot headed right his way.
Colonel Asshole is going to wish I'd never been brought out of Vault 112, Juliet thought to herself as the Lyons Pride proceeded to make their charge to the Jefferson Memorial.
Project Purity's fate rested in unknown hands.