I am in an abandoned building somewhere further south than the Commonwealth. I stopped here a week ago, and never left. I'm exhausted. I can't continue. My legs ache and blisters rot my feet. My brotherhood uniform is worn and needs repair, but I have yet to do anything. It's been a while, months probably since I left. I don't know what to do. I feel lost.
I walk over to the garden that was here and pick some produce and head inside to cut it up. I eat my lunch and walk over to my bed and just sit. A noise trap I installed around the perimeter goes off outside and I grab my plasma castor. I quietly go to the door and open it with my gun raised. Then, I get shot in the leg with a laser rifle. A fall to the floor and grip my leg and groan in pain. Fire courses through my veins and I scream in agony. I look at my leg would and see burned flesh covering my leg and smoldering. I look up and see a brotherhood knight exit their power armor.
I struggle to get up and grab my plasma-castor and point my gun at the brotherhood knight. His headlamp on his armor is still on so his body is cast in shadow impairing the image of his face from me. My squinted eyes watch him carefully as he lays his rifle on the ground and stays crouched. I can see his face a little more clearly now. His face is angular and he has a goatee and mustache. There is a long scar that starts just above his left eyebrow and reaches down his eye and cheek and stops just under the center of his bottom lip. His brown hair is cut on both sides and is kept long but combed back on the top as is the standard hair cut in the brotherhood.
I watch him as he slowly makes his way towards me, calculating every move, careful not to make a mistake. He finally reaches my gun. My finger instantly goes to the trigger and he stops. He takes a breath and holds it as he lifts his hand to the end of my gun and makes me lower it.
I let out my breath that I was holding in and lower the gun to the ground. I cannot kill him. I will not. He is my brother, no matter how long i've been away. What kind of a person would I be if I murdered him anyways? He gave me no reason to kill him. Each move he took was non-hostile. I sit down on my butt and take a few breaths to slow my heart rate.
I hear him let out a breath as well and he gets to his feet.
He takes a stimpak from his inventory and injects it into my leg. I groan as the medicine goes in and it burns a little at first, but then the medicine quickly takes effect and a cooling sensation begins. My leg heals within seconds and the burn is almost completely gone.
"I'm sorry." The man says.
"Yea well didn't they teach you trigger control?" Say annoyed inspecting my leg.
"Yea, sorry about that. I thought you were a ghoul for a second. I never meant to hurt you." He says.
"Yea well you need to be situationally aware and show more trigger discipline. You don't just start killing and shooting civilians. That's basic tactics" I say scolding him. I sigh after a silent moment, "Looks like you got a lot to learn." I say sitting down on the bed.
"What the hell are you doin' up here anyway?" I ask him.
"Well I was on a mission to find you." He says, "didn't actually expect to find you here. I thought you'd be long gone by now."
"I didn't want you to find me. That's why I left."I say.
"Why didn't you just tell Elder Maxson you needed time?" He asks confused.
"what the fuck does it matter to you?" I ask looking at him in his eyes.
"You're my sister. A sentinel. You matter to Elder Maxson and the Brotherhood." He says.
"Yea well this isn't about them." I say.
"What it's about yourself? Is that it?" He asks.
"Yes!" I say.
"So, what, you just gonna sit down here a sulk? You gonna think in a circle about what happened? I was there that day. In fact, I was fighting right beside you. There isn't a day that goes by where it doesn't haunt my dreams. But I didn't run away. I stayed because I knew there were people on the Predwyn who care about me." He says.
"So? You here to just find me and shit on me? I did what I needed to do and that's all there is to it." I say firmly.
He sighs, "look, all I'm saying is that maybe we can help you" he says.
"Forget it." I say gathering my things.
I begin to walk out of the door when he grabs my arm to stop me, "and what about Shaun?" He asks.
I stop dead in my tracks, "Shaun's dead." I say a tear forming in the corner of my eye.
"No he isn't. We found him in the Institute. His facial recognition and blood traced back to yours. Your son is waiting for you." He says.
I let out a breath and sit back down. He must be talking about the synth. The synth of shaun that was created for me. I had forgotten about him.
"That's impossible." I say silently.
"No, he's there happy and healthy and waiting for you to come back. He talks about finding you all the time. He wants to be a squire." He tells me.
I shake my head, "I can't go back. There's no way. It's been too long." I say.
"Yes you can. You are Maxsons' biggest asset. He will not punish you for returning. He looks at you as his closest friend I think." He says.
I sigh and close my eyes. I'm exhausted and am running low on supplies. Truthfully, had he not found me, I would have died. I have no drive to continue. But I can't leave Shaun. He may be a synth, but they never have to know. This is the chance I was waiting on. The life stolen from me.
"Okay." I say, "but I may be a bit slow. Blisters are killing my feet."
"Don't worry. I have a transport waiting for my signal. They'll pick us up when I pop smoke" he says with a grin.
I nod. He returns to his power armor and throws smoke outside. A vertibird soon lands and he helps me load up. I sit in the cushioned seats and lean my head back, tired from everything. A hand rests on my shoulder.
"Rest up Sentinel, we'll take it from here." The Knight says.
I sigh and soon fall asleep.