Reviews

Oddliver: Don't worry, he'll get to the bunker in good time.

CyberJordan: Oh just wait, Chapter 7 will show another Warrior squad go down, but at such a terrible price.

Kranske: Thanks man, I will continue writing.

Chazzen01: He will be getting help, and I plan to make it where he can get help from the Midwest Brotherhood as well. How, all will be revealed in a couple chapters.

InflatedChimp: I'm sorry I'm late, but I'm back and I do plan on making this a multistory fic.

GuestDB: I like your question, and I will have an answer for it in the next chapter. As for how many soldiers there are at the base, that wont be revealed for a while.

Here's Chapter Six. P.S. This is a flashback chapter about Butch and it talks about what made him into a better person.

Chapter 6: Butch

Grayditch: June 9, 2279. 1 hour earlier.

After the battle in the tunnels Jericho, Harkness, Butch and Dogmeat were on their way back to the camp while Eric went to deal with the fire ant queen. Butch was still trying to process the story that Jericho told him and Harkness. "So let me get this straight. The last time you were here, you went into the subway to find out where the fire ants were coming from. While searching, Eric came across a locked safe and instead of finding a gun, or caps…he ends up with a set of leopard pajamas?"

Jericho just nodded while trying to hold back a grin.

"Then to make matters worse, a raider shows up and tries to kill you over the…what did he call them? Naughty nightwear?" Harkness asked, joining in on the conversation.

Jericho nodded and began to chuckle, no longer able to hold it in. "Don't believe it? I don't blame ya. If I wasn't there when it happened, I'd be wondering if he went crazy with some bad psycho. Believe me that is a high you don't fuckin' wanna go through."

Harkness and Butch exchanged a knowing look, both aware of Jericho's past life as a raider. They turned their attention back to the man in question. "We'll take your word for it." They said simultaneously, making Jericho chuckle even more.

Once they made it back to the camp Jericho had to inform Lucas of the situation that occurred in the tunnels and Harkness went to go see Lucky Harith about getting more microfusion cells. Butch on the other hand was more focused on getting back to a certain blonde haired girl, but first he needed to leave Dogmeat with someone else. And he knew just who to trust.

Amata and the other Vault residents were sitting around a camp fire in the parking lot by Dot's Diner. When Amata noticed Butch's return and saw that Eric wasn't with him she was about to panic, but Butch was quick to reassure her. "Eric's fine, don't worry."

"Where is he?" She asked him, obviously not convinced.

"He's got some unfinished business to tend to." He answered her.

"Bu-" Butch immediately cut her off.

"Amata! This is Eric we're talking about here. I know you tune into GNR and listen to the stories about him. He's the 'Messiah of the Capital Wasteland.' Plus you saw what he did back in the security office. So you know what he's capable of. He's the Lone Wanderer, not some lazy ass vault guard." Upon hearing this, Officer Gomez raised a brow at Butch's statement. Butch looked to Gomez and raised his hands up. "No offense." Officer Gomez just nodded even though he was somewhat offended at Butch's remark.

Butch turned back to Amata and saw that she still donned a look of concern. He sighed. "Amata, Eric will be fine. He can take care of himself. Alright? Have some faith in him."

Amata sighed and nodded. "You're right Butch." It took her about three seconds to realize what she said before a complete wave of shock swept over her. Never in her life did she believe that those words would come out of her mouth. By the looks on everyone's faces, neither did they.

Butch was staring at Amata wide-eyed. "Wh-what did…?" Butch stammered before crossing his arms and grinning at the girl. "I'm sorry, but it sounded like you said I was right."

Amata rolled her eyes. "Yes Butch, you're right."

"You know what? Could you repe-" Butch was cut off when Amata grabbed his mouth with her index finger and thumb.

"Don't get used to it!" Amata warned before letting him go.

Butch chuckled. "Aww, can't I have this moment?" He asked while making his lower lip tremble. Amata laughed at his antics and shook her head.

Some of the other vault residents started laughing with her and Butch. "Wow Butch, you sure have changed since you left the vault." Amata stated sounding a little impressed. This isn't the Butch that she remembered growing up with. This wasn't the same guy that she wanted to slap across the face every time he made a rude remark against her.

When Butch stopped laughing, everyone else did and saw his face went completely serious. "Yeah, well…I have Eric to thank for that." He looked around at all the other vault residents. "If it wasn't for him, I'd still be the same ignorant son of a bitch that you all had to put up with." He scratched the back of his head. "I owe all of you an apology, especially you Amata, because I know I gave you the worst of it…I am sorry for the way that I have treated you. All of you." Now the roles had been completely reversed. Never did any of the vault residents believe they would hear those words would come out of Butch's mouth.

Herman Gomez swore he was going to have a heart attack when Butch apologized. This definitely wasn't the same Butch he remembered. After recovering from the shock he spoke. "Who are you and what have you done with the smartass punk kid that I always had to keep an eye on every time he tried to start a fight?"

Butch just shrugged. "That kid grew up; however he can still be a smartass most of the time." He added a wink at the end of the statement.

"Well I definitely wanna know what Eric did to change you into a better…ish person." Amata said, her curiosity getting the best of her.

"She's not alone." Susie Mack jumped into the conversation. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying. She was still upset over the death of her brother and father, but she was more furious with them for trying to overthrow Amata back at the vault. "Is he the reason why you decided to join Rivet City Security?"

Butch chuckled, looking down at his attire which was his standard issue security uniform with a belt that had magazine pouches around his waist. "Uh, that's a looong story. I don't think we have…" He stopped and looked at the clock on his Pip-Boy to check the time. 4:56 A.M. 'We may have time.' "You know what? Give me a couple minutes, I'll be right back." Butch looked down at Dogmeat who was lying by his feet during the whole conversation. He let out a low whistle causing the dog to look up at him with his full attention. "Let's go boy!" Dogmeat jumped to his feet and followed Butch.

He walked over to the Wilks' house where he and Lucy were sitting outside before he went with Eric into the subway. On the way there he was stopped by Lucky Harith. "Hey kid, come over here!" Butch walked over to Harith who was standing by his pack brahmin.

"Aren't you supposed to be helping Crow lead the caravan to the Purifier?" Butch asked the man.

"Bah, he can handle it. I'm just trying to arm some of the settlers with better firepower. Besides, it's not the first caravan Crow's led." Harith replied.

"True, but he doesn't have that many men to keep the convoy safe." Butch pointed out.

Harith knew Butch had a point. When Uncle Roe had him, Crow, Doc Hoff, or Crazy Wolfgang lead a convoy of several other merchants, security had to be at least 30 well-armed and well trained caravan guards. Since Crow was leading a caravan of four other merchants with brahmin pulling supply carts full of Eric's supplies and only had seven guards and a couple of Brick's Rangers acting as security, there was reason to be concerned.

"Let's just pray to God that they make it." Butch nodded in agreement. "Now for the reason I called you over. Is that all you got?" He asked, indicating to Butch's slung assault carbine.

Butch looked at his rifle and shook his head. "No." He reached down and pulled a switchblade out of his right combat boot. The switchblade or as Eric likes to call it "Butch's Toothpick" was pretty much his backup weapon.

Harith shook his head and started to tsk like he was disappointed in Butch. "Now that won't due at all. Give me your rifle and magazines!" The weapon's dealer demanded.

Butch just stared at the man. "…What?"

"You heard what I said, hand them over!" Butch hesitated before unslinging his rifle and handing it over. Harith was holding Butch's rifle in his left hand and held out his right one. Butch sighed before pulling his magazines out of the pouches around his waist and surrendering them to the man. The weapon's dealer smiled. "Thank you. Now then." Harith turned to his brahmin and pulled off a bag filled with different types of assault rifles.

He put the assault carbine in the bag and pulled out a fully repaired marksman carbine with six magazines loaded with armored-piercing bullets and held them out for Butch. "There's nothing wrong with a fully automatic, but its times like these, you need to conserve your ammo. Let me see your magazine pouches." Butch slung his new rifle over his shoulder and took off the belt with the pouches and handed it over. Harith opened up another bag on his brahmin, threw the belt in and pulled out a black tactical vest.

The weapons dealer handed Butch the vest which had a quick draw holster, three pistol mag pouches, and six rifle mag pouches. After putting the vest on, Butch slipped the magazines into the pouches and noticed Harith handing him a 9mm pistol with three magazines. Butch took the sidearm and holstered it then tucked the magazines away. Harith smiled with satisfaction. "There! Now you have a real backup weapon." Butch was about to pay the man, but Harith put a hand up to stop him. "Don't worry about the payment for now kid. What's the point of trying to make some caps if I might end up dead anyway? If we make it through this, then you can pay me."

Butch blinked once, twice, three times. 'Who the fuck are you and what have you done with Harith?' Butch thought, still trying to overcome his shock. Every time he dealt with Lucky Harith, the man would expect immediate payment for his "high-quality problem-solvers." Butch thanked the man and walked away mumbling, "Gun nut." Obviously Harith was able to hear what he said.

"I'm proud of it." The gun merchant retorted trying to stifle his laughter.

Butch shook his head and looked down at Dogmeat who was following closely. "He takes his job too fucking seriously doesn't he boy?"

'BARK' The hound replied.

Butch smiled and scratched the dog on the head. Dogmeat considered Butch as a second owner to him after hanging around with Eric. When they made it to the Wilks' house, Lucy wasn't sitting outside anymore. The man and dog looked at each other. "She must've gone inside." Butch said. The dog let out a low whine in response. Butch opened the door and was welcomed with one of Megaton's guards standing watch inside. "Hey Mike." He greeted the guard.

When Butch left the vault with Eric, they decided to stay in Megaton for a week. While Eric was trying to help Sheriff Simms fortify Megaton in case the Enclave tried to attack the town, Butch spent his time getting to know the town residents. Though most of them were complete assholes, Mike and few others were alright.

Mike was a big burly man that stood almost seven feet tall and was in his mid-thirties. He wore an eye patch over his left eye, which he lost during a raider attack. He always wore his riot gear, a baseball cap, and was always armed with a scoped .44 magnum and a sawed-off shotgun.

"Hey Butch. You looking for Lucy?" To him Lucy was like his little sister whom he always watched out for and Butch knew this. After what happened to her parents, she went into a deep depression that he, Eric and a couple others had no luck of bringing her out of. Butch on the other hand, was there for her and had somehow managed to bring her out of her stupor and gave her the happiness she deserved. For that, he would always have respect for this young man.

"Yeah, did she come in here?" Butch asked.

"She went upstairs." Mike said pointing a finger to the bedroom.

"Thanks Mike." The man nodded then pointed an accusing finger at Butch.

"Remember Butch, I got my eye on you!" He warned half-jokingly.

Butch decided to be an ass and take advantage of that. "Which eye?" He said, earning him a death-glare from Mike before he went back to guarding the front door.

When Butch walked into the living room he saw Billy Creel sitting on the couch while Maggie and Harden Simms were playing a game of checkers. Over by the bookcase were a couple residents huddled together trying to sleep. When Butch made it to the bedroom upstairs he saw Lucy was lying asleep on the bed.

'God, she looks so beautiful.' He thought. Butch walked over to the blonde haired beauty and slightly shook her arm to wake her up. Being that she was a light sleeper, Lucy shot up with a .357 magnum in her hand. Butch grabbed her by the wrist before the gun was aimed in his face. "Whoa whoa whoa take it easy! It's just me!" He said trying to calm her down.

Lucy sighed before putting the gun back beneath the pillow. "Dammit Butch you scared the hell out of me!"

"Me? You think I like having a gun pointed at my face? The last thing I need is someone fuckin' up my good looks!" Butch countered in annoyance.

Lucy looked at her boyfriend with slight amusement. "Well I think it would be an improvement." She said jokingly, hoping he would rise to the bait.

Butch chuckled, knowing what she was doing. "I've been told that a lot recently, but since you feel late way I can just go." He said turning to leave, but was stopped when Lucy grabbed his arm.

"Come here." She pulled him to her until their lips crashed together. Butch pulled Lucy off the bed and onto her feet then wrapped his arms around her waist, refusing to break the kiss. Dogmeat whined as he sat there for a few seconds, watching the whole exchange happen before quietly strolling out of the room, leaving the two to some privacy.

After several long, passionate seconds, Lucy broke the kiss and looked at Butch with a serious look on her face. Her eyes had the look of fear mixed with uncertainty. "Lucy?" Butch asked with uncertainty. He had seen that look in her eyes only once. It was one of the most painful things that he had ever done in his life. It was when he had to deliver the news about the death of her little brother Ian. "Talk to me baby. What's wrong?"

She looked down, not wanting to meet his gaze, but Butch wasn't going to have any of that. He gently lifted her chin up so that he could look her in the eyes. She had them sit down on the bed and remained silent for a while before opening her mouth to speak. "You know how I've been throwing up these past couple weeks?" He nodded, she continued. "Well, I talked to Doc Church and the good news is I'm not sick. It's something else."

Butch frowned at her. She wasn't sick, so what was… "Hold on if you're not sick, and there's nothing wrong with, that usually means…" He trailed off, eyes widening, not wanting to finish that sentence. "You're…?" She just nodded. Butch's face went sickly pale and he immediately stood up. "No, no, no, no, no, nope, nope, nu-uh. You can't be pregnant! Cause if you're pregnant, then that would mean you're gonna be a mother…and that means I'm gonna be a father." He was pacing back and forth, frantically trying to deny the fact that he'd knocked up his girlfriend.

Lucy rolled her eyes. She loved him, but her boyfriend could be really an idiot at times. "Yes Butch, that's typically how it works. Did you think it was the other way around?"

Butch glared at her. "Lucy, this isn't funny! This is seriously NOT a good thing!"

Tears started to form in her eyes after Butch's statement. She was afraid that he wouldn't want to have anything to do with her or the baby. "Oh, and why is that Butch? What makes this such a terrible thing?"

Butch held up two fingers. "Two reasons. Reason one. The most obvious reason. Have you seen what's been going on outside?" He jerked his thumb over his shoulder to emphasize his point. "An army more dangerous than the Enclave has pretty much wiped out the Brotherhood, they've taken control of Rivet City, Megaton's been destroyed, and these assholes are killing every living thing that isn't them! In case you haven't noticed, the wasteland isn't exactly the best place to raise a child!"

Lucy knew Butch had a point, but she wanted to know what the second reason was. "Ok and reason number two?"

Butch opened his mouth then closed it, repeating this action several times. He was trying to get the words to come out. He knew what he was saying before hurt her and he had to do some quick back pedaling. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and sighed. Then he looked to Lucy and spoke with a tone of nothing but seriousness. "The last thing this kid needs is a father like me."

She frowned and then coughed trying to hide her laughter. When she saw him narrow his eyes at her, she pursed her lips. "Butch what are you talking about? You'd be a great dad." She told him sincerely.

Butch snorted then gave her an amused expression. "Really? You really think that? News flash Lucy, I wasn't exactly a pleasant person to be around back in the vault. I was always a fuckin' asshole. If you grew up in the vault with me you woulda seen how many times me and Eric tried to beat the shit out of each other on a daily fuckin' basis. Growing up, my father wasn't in the picture and according to my mother, I reminded her of him. I was selfish, arrogant, a bastard, and a prick as she would so eloquently put it."

She pointed a finger at him. "I have known you for almost a year and a half and you have not done one thing that shows you are anything like your father."

"Have you ever heard the expression like father like son?" He asked.

She gave an exasperated sigh. "That doesn't mean shit Butch." He gave her a look that said 'bullshit.' "Alright give me one example of how true that is." Lucy demanded.

"Eric and his dad." Butch said without hesitation. "When I stop to think about it, my mother is right. I'm like my dad. I'm a worthless bastard. I'm not the kind of person that deserves to be a dad. I…don't deserve to be a dad." He firmly stated with tears in his eyes.

Lucy got up off of the bed and walked over to Butch, pulling him into a tight hug. She softly whispered into his ear. "I don't know what kind of person you were in the vault, but when I first met you, you have been nothing but a gentleman. You have done nothing to show me otherwise." She pulled back to look him in the eyes. "So you get this into that bullheaded brain of yours! You. Are. Not. Like. Your. Father. You're more of man than your father will ever be." She finished giving him a peck on the lips. "Ok Butch? You're going to be an amazing dad. I know it."

Butch smiled at her. "How did I ever get so lucky to be with a woman like you?"

"Well, all of the better-looking guys were taken so I had to go with what I could find." Butch looked to be wounded by her words, but she knew he was pulling an act. "Oh put the pouty face away, you know I'm kidding."

"Yeah." He said sheepishly before giving her a quick kiss. "I need to get back to Amata and the others." Butch thought about it for a second. "Why don't you come and meet them?"

Lucy's eyes widened. "What? Oh…well…I don't know. What if they don't like me?" She asked worriedly.

Butch smirked. "I'll kick their asses." He said earnestly.

"What would Eric do if you did that?" She asked

"He'd help me out." They both laughed.

"Alright let's go." They interlocked their fingers together and Butch lead her out of the room, getting Dogmeat who was engrossed in Maggie and Harden's game of checkers. After rounding up the hound they walked towards the front door with Mike sending Butch a final warning. "Bye Mike." Lucy said smiling at the man she considered to be an older brother.

When they left the house they ran into Harkness. "Oh, there you are rookie. I've been looking for you" Butch inwardly groaned. 'I fuckin' hate it when he calls me that.'

"What do you want chief?" Butch asked the android.

"How many people live in Megaton?" Harkness asked the younger man.

"At least 80 people, all including settlers and militia." He answered. "Is there any reason why you're asking me?"

"I just got done counting how many vault residents there are. There are about 78 people." Butch still didn't know what Harkness was getting at so he continued. "You know that Rivet City has 400 people, plus the 120 guards." Butch nodded. "I just got off the Sheriff's radio; Danvers said that the Purifier is packed, if we keep bringing more people in, supplies won't last long. She estimates a week at most."

Butch now understood where Harkness was going with this. "You want me to find out if Eric can think of another safe place to send some of the refugees?" Harkness nodded. "When Eric gets back I'll talk to him about it. Oh! Did Crow and the other merchants make it?" He asked, remembering his conversation with Lucky Harith.

Harkness nodded letting him know that they made it and they parted ways. The android looked back at the two and his scanners picked up something very interesting. "Son of a bitch." He muttered to himself, letting a small smile creep onto his face. "Way to go rook."

Butch and Lucy sat down with the vault residents. They all had their attention focused on the blonde, which made her nervous. Out of all of the vault residents, Susie was the first to tease Butch. "So Butch, is this your girlfriend?" That comment made Lucy blush.

Butch saw this and rushed to her defense. "I'll answer that question after you tell me how many times you and Freddie snuck off to play tongue twister." Both Susie and Freddie Gomez were blushing furiously. Butch knew all too well about the secret relationship the two had. Then he turned to Amata. "What about you Amata? How many times have you thought about having Eric's lips against yours?" He teased, prodding her in the shoulder. Butch laughed at how red her face was. "This is Lucy." He started introducing each of the residents. "Lucy these are my friends Amata Almodovar, Susie Mack, Freddie Gomez, Christine Kendall…and everyone else." He looked over to his mother. "And that's my mother Ellen DeLoria."

"It's nice to meet you all." She said sincerely while casting his mother a cold glare that she failed to notice. After the things she said about her boyfriend, she had no intentions of getting along with the woman.

Most of the vault residents gave her a courteous welcome.

Dogmeat appeared and rested his head on Butch's lap. "Aww cute dog." Christine said reaching over to scratch the dog behind the ears. "What's his name?"

"Dogmeat." Butch answered her.

All of the residents burst into laughter. "That is the stupidest name I have ever heard of."

The dog looked up at Christine and growled, startling her. "I wouldn't make fun of the dog that almost took a chunk out of Wilkin's and O'Brian's necks." Butch stated. Alphonse's face paled; no wonder why that dog looked so familiar. "Don't worry Alphonse, he won't do anything unless me or Eric tell him to. Ain't that right boy?" The dog let out a little bark in reply.

As amusing as the scene was, Amata was still more interested in Butch's story. "So Butch, are you gonna tell us what it was that made you become a nicer guy?" She asked impatiently.

Butch chuckled. "Aside from being with Lucy, it was all Eric."

"Care to explain?" Christine asked.

Butch looked at the clock on his Pip-Boy and the time was 5:23 A.M. "Alright guys I have to make it quick though. We head out at six. It all started a week after we left the vault."

Flashback: Megaton Entrance, December 20, 2277. 8:30 A.M.

Eric was wide-awake and ready to see what trouble he could get himself into. He was armed with a 10mm pistol and an R91 assault rifle. At his side was his faithful hound, and coming up from behind him was the newest member of his team. "Sleep well Butch?" He asked. Butch had discarded his vault jumpsuit and was now wearing a merc grunt outfit with his tunnel snakes jacket. Eric had made sure that Butch was well armed so he gave him a .45 auto submachine gun.

Butch yawned. "Fuck, five more minutes wouldn't have hurt." He said groggily.

"Well I could've woken you up when I did at six."

Butch gave him a disbelieving look. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Sleep is a good thing! I welcome it with open arms."

Eric smirked. "Sleep isn't the only thing that's being welcomed into your arms."

Butch growled. "Nothing happened between me and Lucy you jackass. How many times do I have to say that?"

"Dude, chill! I know you didn't, you both still had your clothes on."

"Thank you. So where are we going?" Butch asked.

"Sheriff Simms told me that the raiders have moved back into the Springvale School. We have to go clear them out."

"Raiders? They don't sound so tough. I bet they'd run in fear once they realize they're messing with a tunnel snake." Butch said in his usual cocky manner.

Eric snorted. "Ok first off all, the raiders have no fucking clue who the tunnel snakes are and second, don't get cocky. Cockiness gets you killed."

Butch rolled his eyes. "Whatever, let's just get this over with."

Eric shook his head. 'He better listen or he's gonna get himself killed.' He thought to himself.

They never made it to the school, because a group of five raiders were gathering to attack a caravan scheduled to arrive at Megaton any minute. Three of them were armed with hunting rifles, one was armed with a .357 magnum. The last one was armed with a rusty butcher's knife. When they made it to the gas station, the raiders began firing on the two wanderers. Butch dove behind the Nuka-Cola machine while Eric took cover behind the sign that directed travelers to Megaton. Dogmeat took off to flank the attacking marauders from behind. Eric pulled out his assault rifle and fired a burst of rounds into the knife-wielding raider who foolishly tried to charge at him. Butch aimed his submachine gun and fired recklessly, none of his shots making their marks. Eric aimed at three of the raiders who were taking cover by Silver's house. To conserve his ammo, he fired one shot a time, grazing one raider in the shoulder and blowing out another one's brains. With three raiders remaining Eric focused his attention on the two still taking cover behind Silver's house hoping Butch would take out the other. Out of nowhere Butch ran right into the line of fire and emptied his magazine into the two raiders.

Butch looked over at Eric who was still standing behind cover. "It's alright Eric, they're all dead." He exclaimed triumphantly.

"There's still one missing." He yelled while searching the body of the raider that tried charging him.

"Ah, he probably ran away like a pussy."

"You sure about that asshole?"

Butch whipped around at the sound of the new voice, only to be faced with the barrel of a .357 magnum. It was the raider that took a round to the shoulder. Before the raider could fire off his gun, Dogmeat appeared from behind and tackled him to the ground. The hound sunk his teeth into the raider's throat, ripping a chunk of it out. Butch stared at the lifeless man's body, still in complete shock.

He remained that way until Eric grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and shoved him against the house. "WHAT DID I TELL YOU? HUH?" Eric yelled in his face. "I TOLD YOU NOT TO GET COCKY; I TOLD YOU THERE WAS STILL ONE MORE RAIDER. AND YOUR RESPONSE WAS THAT HE WAS A PUSSY?" Eric slapped Butch upside the head. "WAKE UP YOU DUMBSHIT! RAIDERS NEVER RUN AWAY UNLESS IT'S FROM A GODDAMN DEATHCLAW! YOU KNOW YOU MAY HAVE ACTED LIKE A BADASS IN THE VAULT, BUT OUT HERE, BEING A BADASS DOESN'T MEAN JACK SHIT!" Butch couldn't believe he was being read the riot act by Eric. This definitely wasn't the same kid that he used to pick on back in the vault. He was much more intimidating. Eric let go of Butch and pointed a finger at him while speaking in a calmer tone. "Get this into that tiny fucking brain of yours right now! Drop the badass act you stupid son of a bitch! Every time you act like a badass it makes you cocky. Cockiness gets you killed, or worse, someone else and if that happens I'll blow you're goddamn brains out. If you think I'm just blowing smoke outta my ass then take a look at these raiders, because they are a perfect example of that." Butch looked around at the dead bodies and he knew Eric was right. "If you're gonna stick with me, you do exactly what I say, when I say it. Understand?"

Butch finally found his voice and nodded. "Yeah."

"You better, because I swear to God Butch, you do something stupid like again, I will let you get killed."

Butch nodded before loading a new mag into his machine gun. "So where are we heading next?"

Before Eric could answer Silver came out of her house holding an empty whiskey bottle. "What the fuck is going on out here?" She slurred.

Butch and Eric looked at each other with raised brows before walking away from the drunken woman. After making sure the school was cleared of all raiders Butch finally broke the silence. "Who the hell gets drunk at eight in the morning?"

Eric laughed. "Butch you'd be real surprised."

End of Flashback.

After Butch finished talking about what happened that day, he started talking about his adventures with Eric and how he started maturing into a better person. Everyone was listening intently, amazed at all the accomplishments that Eric and he had completed.

Amata was probably more amazed than everyone else. "Wow Butch. I'm truly impressed. So that was all it took to make you change."

Butch nodded. "I took his words to heart. He was right. Every time I got into it with the raiders, they got cocky. They always thought that if they had more men or the better weapons, they were invincible. So I took Eric's advice. He trained me, taught me how to fight with all types of weapons and now here I am."

Freddie was about to ask him a bunch of questions since he looked up to Butch when he was with the Tunnel Snakes, but Jericho and Harkness appeared. "Hey kid, you got the time?" Jericho asked Butch.

Butch looked at his clock. "Yeah it's 5:54." He paused. "Eric back yet?"

Harkness shook his head. "He should've been back by now."

Before any of them could reply, they heard gunfire not too far from the camp. Butch looked down the scoped of his rifle while Harkness's scanners zoomed in on where the shots were fired.

"It's Eric!" Butch shouted before sprinting off with Harkness and Dogmeat in tow.

Jericho grabbed a couple militiamen. "Watch over the vaulties!" He ordered the men before following the others.

Most of the vault residents watched the men hurry off with looks of worry on their faces. Amata especially. 'Please be ok.' She thought.

When Butch and the others arrived, they saw Eric just staring at the holotags in his hands. His face was ghostly pale and his eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his skull.

Butch put a hand on his shoulder. "Eric are you alright?" He asked his friend with concern.

Eric looked to Butch then handed them the tags. When he saw what the tags said, he knew they were in trouble. Eric had told him everything about the Brotherhood of Steel a long time ago. Where they came from, what their goals were, and had told him about the Brotherhood bases across post-apocalyptic America. When saw Lost Hills on those tags, he knew that they were in for a losing fight. Butch clenched his fist around the tags, anger surging through his veins, wanting to get some revenge on the bastards that ordered these men to murder.

Eric walked over to Jericho. "Do you have a cigarette?" He asked the former raider.

Jericho gave him his 'Is that a trick question?' look, but instead of being a smartass, he pulled out his pack and handed one to Eric. Eric pulled out a zippo lighter and lit the cigarette, taking a long drag on it.

"Eric is there a reason why you're hanging with a piece of shit Talon?" Butch asked with his rifle raised towards Baxter.

Eric turned and saw Baxter had his hands raised and Amanda giving him a pleading look. He walked forward and lowered Butch's rifle. "It's a long story Butch. Just know that he's a friendly." Butch was hesitant for a couple seconds before nodding. Eric looked to the rest of the group. "We need to go now. I have to get to the Purifier and speak with Rothchild."

Let me know how I did guys. Like or review or both. Remember I welcome constructive criticism. NCRMC signing off for now.