Making their way through downtown DC, Michael and the rescued Rangers kept a slow pace, knowing this area in particular to be heavily infested with Mutants. The six surviving Rangers were in a wedge formation as they made their way down the street. Miles and Kilo, the Scout Snipers as Michael was informed, took up the rear on each side. Brick and Theo were one rank up, while Donovan and Butcher kept behind the Wanderer, who was on point. Before leaving the lobby, Donovan informed Michael that they were about to finish up mapping downtown DC when they came under heavy fire and were driven all the way up to the roof. A Super Mutant ambush, which was a rarity.

Michael came to find out that almost all the Rangers, sans Theo, were former Brotherhood. Apparently they had left some time after the split between Lyon's Brotherhood and the Outcasts took place. Reilly and Butcher decided to stay with Lyons, while Donovan and Brick went with the Outcasts. Only after a few months did Reilly decide to leave the Brotherhood, with Butcher following in her footsteps, and as soon as Donovan and Brick got wind of what they had planned to do, they followed suit. Miles and Kilo found their way into the group shortly after, Miles from the Outcasts and Kilo from the Citadel. Theo was a new recruit, their first non-Brotherhood prospect.

Suddenly, Michael held up a fist, signaling them to cease the chatter, ready their weapons, and hold position. Being the sort of Apex Predator he was, Michael wasn't acclimated to traveling in groups, and as tensions seemed to rise he was sure he was about to lead them into another ambush. Seconds later the fighting broke out. Butcher was hit. Michael yelled for the Rangers to get to cover while he dragged Butcher behind a nearby building by the back of his collar. The Rangers were returning fire, but they couldn't see what exactly they were firing at.

Checking Donovan over, he saw where he was hit before he could find a pulse. Straight through the heart. The round had gone straight through. Butcher's eyes were open and glossy. He was dead. The predator felt a familiar feeling building up in his system; pure, unbridled rage. Miles had just made his way over to his location when the Wanderer stood up. Before he could ask about Butcher's condition, he witnessed something almost magical.

The Wanderer vanished into thin air.


Talon Mercs. Presumably assigned to kill the Rangers. Unfortunately for them, their most hated, most feared enemy was with them at the time of the ambush. Their squad leader, a man who went by the name Blackjack, had set up this ambush days ago, knowing the route they'd have to take back to their base. He had been the one to pull the trigger that ignited this firefight. That's why he was the first of the Talon Mercs to die. Without warning, his neck had opened up and blood poured out onto his blackened armor. Too busy firing at the Rangers, none of the other eight Talon Mercs positioned on the bridge noticed as he slumped over the railing.

Looking through the scopes of their rifles, Miles and Kilo witnessed what could only be called a blood bath. One by one, the Talon Mercs were chopped, sliced, stabbed, and slashed. Once they had begun to notice something was wrong on their end it was already too late. Michael was careful enough to leave one survivor, his rifle kicked away and the bones in his hands crushed. He couldn't run from this demon because, in the flurry of blades, his Achilles tendons were slashed. He watched as the Wanderer dispatched his last living comrade, an extremely large, curved forward knife slammed into their gut and twisted. As Miles and the other Rangers made their way onto the overpass, they witnessed the Wanderer, despite the Talon Merc's screams, hang the Merc over the railing as he used his infamous Railway Rifle to essentially crucify their assailant onto the bridge.

"Butcher is dead" Miles said, approaching the Wanderer slowly, not knowing if this creature's bloodlust has be sated. "We've gotta get him back to HQ. Have a proper burial"

"He was my responsibility. I'll carry him" Michael said, moving to get off the overpass as the Talon Merc screamed for mercy. "Their contract was to take out the Rangers. Didn't know I'd be here. They set up the ambush, both times. Whoever ordered the hit on your group wanted to stay in the shadows. This one didn't know anything."

Michael showed a kind of gentleness the Rangers thought him impossible of having as he picked up Butcher's body. "Miles, you're on point. No more chatter. After we get to your HQ, I'll go and escort Reilly home."


Reilly wasn't taking Butcher's death well. The news of his demise coupled with her less than stellar current physical and mental condition was simply too much for her to bear. First, it was shock. Then came the tears. Michael wasn't equipped to handle a situation such as this. While he had seen people cry before, they hadn't been Reilly. For some reason, when she cried, Michael wished that he were able to comfort her. That her tears would stop falling. When the panic attack set in, however, Michael did know what to do. Reilly fell to the floor, having lost all strength in her limbs as well as having trouble breathing. Immediately Michael was there.

"Look at me," He said, tilting her chin up so their eyes could meet. "Tell me what's happening."

Unable to form coherent words, Michael pressed on. "I'm going to check your pulse," After locating her pulse, he checks the watch on his PiP-Boy. Her heart rate was incredibly high.

"I'm going to ask you some questions. I need you to answer them all as best you can." He says, looking back up at her.

"Where are you right now? Are you having trouble breathing? Can you hear me?"

Taking a deep breath and shaking her head slightly, Reilly answers the questions one by one, as calmly as possible.

"I'm in the Underworld's clinic. Yes, and obviously yes" she says, her entire body shaking. "Are you a doctor or something?" She asks.

"No" He says, looking back down to check the time "My father was. I learned a few things from him and a lot of things taking care of myself out here"

Lightly holding her shoulder against the wall so she could breathe more easily, he continues "It's not your fault. It's not your fault. You did all you could. You saved everyone else."

Able to breathe again, her body begins to loosen up. Her hands have gotten a loose grip onto the Wanderer's duster as she's cried.

Seeing that she's not going to recover from this very quickly, Michael sits down beside her, back against the wall, and pulls her close to him. Warmth and physical comfort is all he can provide now, and he decides that's exactly what he'll do for as long as it takes.


Michael and Reilly stayed in the Ghoul community for three days. He had rented a bed for himself at Carol's Place and spent almost every waking hour with Reilly. If she slept during the day, he'd sit beside the medical bed in a chair. He'd make sure she ate and drank as much as necessary. On the rare occasion they spoke to each other for more than two minutes, it was about the other Rangers, usually Butcher.

Carl, Butcher's birth name, and Reilly had been together since childhood. She and Butcher were as close as two people could be without being in a committed relationship. Reilly had said she was planning to talk to him about that after their mission, but then they were ambushed. Butcher was, as he had admitted openly, the worst fighter of the bunch. But he had medical training, and that was worth his weight in gold when it came to doing what they do. He had apparently gotten his name from Brick after patching her up after a firefight with some Super Mutants while they were in the Brotherhood.

Time passed slowly while in Underworld. Eventually Doctor Barrows cleared Reilly to leave, and with some coaxing from Michael, they made their way out into the Capital Wasteland. In a group of two, it didn't take long to get to the Rangers HQ. Their only hostile encounter being a stray Molerat that happened to pop it's head out of a manhole they were approaching. Entering the courtyard, Michael and Reilly's pace slowed to a crawl. Reilly, being unsure if she could go back to leading the Rangers. Michael, not knowing what he'd do after he left. Just outside the door, they stopped. Reilly voiced her concern.

"I don't think I can go in there. I let them down. I let them all down. I got Carl killed. It's all my fau-" Michael cut her off by pressing a gloved hand over her mouth gently.

Removing his hand, he spoke "Stop. You didn't get them killed. That's on me. I should've been more alert. Butcher's blood is on my hands. You went above and beyond for all of them. I've heard the way they talk about you. You're this lot's best and only hope for making it out here."

Just like that, with the way the Wanderer spoke, her doubts vanished. She knew she could lead. What she also knew, however, is that she couldn't do it alone. Butcher had been her second-in-command for the longest time. She needed someone else to help ease her worries. Someone capable. Someone who could inspire. She needed the Wanderer. She felt slightly guilty, not because she was filling the gap, but because she had begun to have feeling for the Wanderer. Just as she was going to ask him to join her in the Rangers as an equal partner, the door opened. A blank-faced Miles was stopped dead in the doorway. For a moment his brain failed to register the two people in front of him.

Eventually his synapses fired. "Hey, you're back!" He said, going to embrace Reilly. Reilly, overwhelmed with many different feelings, hugged him back. She was so happy that he was alive, and filled with sorrow due to Butcher's death. Michael stood stock still, feeling awkward as an outsider to the group. Detaching from Miles, Reilly corrected that situation immediately.

"Come on in. You've done a lot for us and we've got a few things to give you." She says, taking him by the hand and pulling him inside, not giving him much of a choice in the matter. Miles looked on with a raised eyebrow but said nothing.