In a few short days word of the Wanderer's most recent skirmish with Talon Company had spread throughout the Wasteland like wildfire. They all told the same story: Dozens of Talon Mercs were slaughtered at the hands of some monster that the Wanderer transformed into. Small details, such as the unholy sounds heard that night eventually found their way into the story as well.

It wasn't the first time the Wasteland had heard tales of such an event. Paradise Falls, Evergreen Mills, and Raven Rock were said to have experienced the same wrath brought forth by the Wanderer's rage. This was, however, the first time any survivors were there to tell the story first-hand. Some of the surviving Mercs ended up in Megaton, others were picked up by the Citadel once word of that night had gotten out.

Simms took a Talon Merc into custody, but only after he had begged for protection from the Wanderer. The sheriff had chained the man to a chair in an abandoned house and interrogated him. At first, nothing seemed to work. Threats and acts of torture did nothing to the half-lucid Merc. Only when the Wanderer was mentioned was there any information spilled. The mere passing mention of the Wasteland's hero caused the Merc to cower in fear and eventually panic.

Once Simms assured him that the Wanderer hadn't been to Megaton in weeks, the Merc finally was calm enough to share what had gone on that night. The more Simms heard, the more he questioned the man's sanity. According to him, the Wanderer transformed into a Deathclaw that was impossible to kill. Now, he had heard a lot of odd things in his days as a Regulator, but never once had he been told of a person turning into the most feared creature in the Wasteland. Even so, he sent out a message and a request to his friends still in the Regulators to scout the area.


The Citadel was less gentle with their prisoner. Elder Lyons had a look on his face of pure, unadulterated wrath. The Wanderer had not only given pure drinking water back to the land and it's people, but had also saved his daughter several times over the years. His daughter, Sarah, was adamant about not only keeping in touch with the Wanderer, but also protecting him as one of their own.

Along with Sarah, Gallows was unnaturally outspoken about the Wanderer at times as well. Rothchild had suspected that Gallows felt as if the Wanderer was a kindred spirit. Gallows requested some time with their 'guest' in the isolation room to get information out of him. Lyons agreed without a second thought when normally he would be against such drastic actions.

Six hours later, Gallows had all pertinent information about that night. The threat made by Jabasco, the Wanderer's retort, the attack, and then the slaughter. In a briefing with the top-level members of the Chapter, he relayed it all in full detail. Sarah requested to have her and her Pride dispatched to the area to assure the Wanderer's safety. After an almost unanimous vote Lyons sent them on their way after telling his daughter to be careful.


To everyone's surprise, Michael had been up and moving the following morning of the attack. Nobody, not even Reilly had known what to do or say. All attempts at conversation were met with grunts in response, a wave of the hand, or sometimes the Wanderer would ignore the person speaking to him altogether.

Once he was up, Michael took a long, clean shower. A part of him felt a pang of guilt for using up so much clean water, but he pushed it down, telling himself that once they cleaned out Fort Bannister of any stragglers they'd surely have plenty of clean water if Rothchild's reports of Talon attacks on water caravans were anything to go by.

He knew the Rangers wanted answers. Every attempt at contact with him was made hesitantly and cautiously, always with the refusal to look him in the eyes. He decided that until someone be forward about a question, he was going to pass on their questions and deny their attempts at small talk.

After he was clean, he suited up, noting all the new holes in his duster he'd have to get patched up, and left the compound to scavenge the bodies. To his surprise, Pepper was already outside doing just that. Pepper grunted a greeting, which the Wanderer returned in kind. Together, they stripped Pepper's former comrades of anything valuable. Guns, ammo, luxuries such as alcohol and cigarettes, load-bearing equipment, armor.

With the two of them working together, the task was completed fairly quickly. The Wanderer looked on with some interest as Pepper singled out some of the dead mercs and pulled them away from the rest of the bodies. He heard Pepper say a quiet prayer before he took a shovel he had borrowed from the Ranger compound and began digging a grave in the median of the road. Pepper paused his task of digging graves for his dead friends and watched as the Wanderer went back to the compound with the scavenged loot.

A few minutes later he returned with a shovel of his own. Together, Michael and Pepper worked on digging graves. Pepper looked up from the hole he was digging and spoke for the first time that day. "So, what the fuck was that last night?"

The Wanderer couldn't help but smirk a bit, Pepper's lack of tact clearly amusing to him. The old merc frowned, not finding the situation funny. "That was the result of too much time out in the Wasteland. Too many rads. Too much exposure to weird shit."

Michael stops digging, looking out into the streets. His eyes glaze over, as if he's seeing beyond the walls of the city and into places unknown. "There's a lot of bad shit out there. Worse than Raiders, Supermutants, or Enclave. Once you learn that there are things out there that Deathclaws are afraid of, you gain a whole new perspective. You either die, or you adapt. I adapted."

At the mention of Deathclaws being afraid of anything, Pepper's cigarette dropped out of his mouth into the hole he was digging. Time seemed to stand still. What was so terrifying that it scared a Deathclaw? Did he even want to know?

Michael went back to his task as he continued to speak "It's a dark, scary world out there, Pepper. Beyond the Capital Wasteland, beyond the radiation storms surrounding us, deeper still in the high-rad zones, are things that keep me up at night." Michael paused, thinking back to his travels in the high-rad zones. He visably shuddered.

"It's why I fight so hard. It's what drives me these days. Knowing about those things. Knowing that they're damn near impossible to kill. We have to be prepared. All of us. Raiders, Talon mercs, Supermutants all mean jack-shit compared to what's out there. One day, their food source is going to run low enough for them to travel inwards. I'm trying to prepare us for that day."

Pepper was frozen. He didn't know what to do or what to say. He figured that the kid must've seen some weird shit, but he never thought of something lurking beyond the Capital. He never thought anything would be more terrifying than a Deathclaw. Snapping himself out of his stupor, he resumed digging. "If that's all true, what's driving trade? How is it getting through? How'd the Brotherhood get here?"

The Wanderer shrugged. "They took the safe routes here. Waited for a lull in the storm. Sometimes, caravans will try to take a shortcut. They always go missing. The Brotherhood sent scouts ahead before they set up in the Citadel. They only followed the path the surviving scouts returned from."

He stopped talking, looking up towards the compound. Following his gaze, Pepper saw an empty walkway. He looked to the Wanderer, thinking he might be off his rocker. Then, a certain redhead came around the corner. Her eyes were locked to Michael's. Pepper chose wisely to give them some privacy. "Guess I'll fuck off and take a break" he said under his breath, walking away.


Reilly sat around the bunker, trying to figure out what she'd say to Michael. She wanted to thank him for once again saving their asses, but at the same time she was terrified. Not of him, but of the thought of her questions that she had for him driving him away. She wanted to know what happened to him. She wanted to know how he did the things he did.

It wasn't the first time she wanted to know. Ever since she heard the first few stories Three Dog spun on the radio about the 'Kid from 101' she wanted to know how he managed to survive. Some of the things attributed to him were insane. Before last night, she thought the idea of Michael facing a Deathclaw in single combat with nothing but a knife was impossible. Now, she felt that the most feared creature in the Wasteland was no longer Supermutants or Deathclaws, but the Wanderer himself.

She know, of course, that he wasn't a mindless beast. She'd seen his humanity. She'd felt it, too. His smirk, his eyes, and his gentle touch told a different story not told on the radio. She was no fool, there had been some chatter of the Wanderer and Sarah Lyons hooking up and anyone in the 'know' had heard as such. Likewise, a recorded interview Three Dog did with Michael years ago told that he was once in love with a girl from the vault.

The redhead didn't pretend to have full claim on him. Reilly wasn't blind, she knew how strikingly good looking he was. She knew first hand how easy it was to fall for him. Thinking back to their intimate time together was what finally pushed her to go find him.

At first, she looked for him in the usual places; shower, bunk room, kitchen. When she couldn't find him there, she went outside. That's when she heard the familiar sound of his voice. She edged closer to the wall, trying to avoid calling attention and alerting him to her presence.

"... always go missing. The Brotherhood sent scouts ahead before they set up in the Citadel. They only followed the path the surviving scouts returned from."

She knew what he was talking about. There were holotapes and journals about the Brotherhood's trek East. Before they reached the border of what was once known as 'D.C' they had encountered a massive storm of radiation, dust, and other nasty things. They sent scouts with RadAway and Rad-X packed into self-deploying medical units in their armor into the storm to map out the area. Only one had made it back. All others were presumed KIA.

The sudden silence gave her the clue he knew she was there. Snapping herself out of her thoughts, she rounded the corner and locked eyes with him, ignoring Pepper's stares. After hearing a mumble from the old merc, he walked away, leaving the two alone.

Michael was used to uncomfortable silence. Reilly was not. Seeing this, Michael took out a bottle from one of his pouches and held it in her field of view, shaking the bottle slightly causing it's contents to slosh around. Michael nodded his head in the direction of an empty, roofless building before walking that way and Reilly followed.


They sat on the stairs in silence, passing a bottle of whiskey back and forth. In the Wanderer's lips was a lit cigarette, which was also shared between the two. They looked up into the grey sky together.

Reilly looked down at the bottle in her hands. "I won't ask you what that was last night" she said, her voice quiet. The man beside her didn't say anything, simply choosing to nod instead.

"I thought you were gone. You were riddled with bullets. You just kept bleeding and got more and more pale.. and the entire time I was thinking I was losing you. How selfish is that? Other people depend on you, too, but I was only thinking about my potential loss." He couldn't see it, but he knew that under her hair that was covering her face, she was crying.

"Then, when Pepper had us put you back into the rain, you got better. I don't know how. I don't care. I want you to know that. Other people might think-" She was cut off by his hand coming to her chin, raising her head to look at him. Her eyes were filled with tears, shining with sadness. She reached forwards and brought her mouth to his in a needy kiss, unable to contain her emotions.

He responded positively, allowing her body to form to his, wrapping his arms around her protectively. That is, until...

"Ahem"

Inwardly, Michael cursed at allowing himself to be snuck up on. He broke the embrace and kiss to look at the door to see Sarah Lyons with the Pride behind her, all of them decked out in their signature T-45d Power Armor.

"Well, this is awkward." Colvin, the ever quick-witted one of the group.

"Shut it Colvin." Dusk, the one tasked with keeping Colvin in line.

A large sigh escaped Sarah's lips, "That's it. Security detail, now."

Colvin's snicker was heard throughout the group, but nobody protested. Before setting off, Gallows and the Wanderer shared a nod. After watching her squad set off she looked back to Michael. "I need to talk to you."

Reilly and Michael shared a look before he left her there in the building. A look that said 'Don't worry, there's no problem here'


Michael and Sarah walked slowly down the street, her power armor clanking quietly. Side-by-side, even in her power Armor the Brotherhood Sentinel was shorter than the Wasteland Legend. Sarah took off her helmet, shaking her head to free her hair. "So, Reilly huh?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, knowing full well their 'agreement' they made shortly after he had taken down the landcrawler. After they had gotten back to the Citadel and had been debriefed by her father, Sarah and Michael had come together in a fit of passion.

The entire time he was bringing the fight to the Enclave, she had been in a comatose state after they had taken back the purifier. Although her father made it clear he didn't blame him, Michael put the blame on his shoulders anyways. One of the only people he had ever gotten close to was hurt for what he felt was because of him. When she had showed up in the Vertibird, he felt all that weight he was carrying fall off his shoulders.

For her part, when she had woken up she felt guilty for letting him walk into the purifier alone. She had tried to convince him to let her do it, but all he had done was kiss her softly and pushed her away before walking into the room, sealing the door behind her. There, as the purifier spooled up and released a mass of radiation, their hands laid against the glass, the cool material separating them. She had cried as he laid there smiling, feeling like his mission was finally at an end.

In her room as they had laid in her bed basking in their mutual afterglow, she had spoken to him of how she didn't expect him to be mutually exclusive with her, knowing full well that he was still needed out in the Wasteland, knowing they'd spend days, weeks, or even months apart. She told him that while she'd wait for him forever, he was free to pursue any women that he felt were important to him.

Bringing his mind back to the present, Michael nodded. "She's important to me." That's all he really needed to say. Sarah understood. While Reilly was still in the Brotherhood, she and Sarah were a lot closer than most knew. They had confided in each other, fought together, and were like sisters.

"She's important to me, too. Like a sister. You'll take care of her, right?" she asked, taking his hands in hers, the cool metal separating their skin from touching.

Michael shared a meaningful gaze with her and squeezed her hands softly, but strong enough for her to feel through her armor. "Just like I take care of you."

Sarah scoffed, smirking. "Yeah right. When I first found you, you were cowering behind a wall pinned down by a few muties with hunting rifles."

"Yeah, and ten minutes later I killed my first Behemoth." He said, knocking on her armor.

She shoved him lightly, laughing. "Don't go acting all high and mighty now. Pride goeth before a fall."

There were two pairs of eyes watching Sarah and the Wanderer. One of them was Reilly, looking on with apprehension. She loved Sarah like a sister, but she also loved Michael and hoped that the little triangle they had now didn't get awkward or fall apart. She would never make Michael choose between the two and knew Sarah wouldn't either.

Unseen by all but Gallows, the second pair of eyes came from a figure off in the distance on top of a building. A tall male figure in a duster with a revolver on his hip. A Regulator. Gallows knew the Regulators, they didn't hold any ill-intent for the Wanderer nor the Brotherhood. Still, he wondered if it was coincidence that they were here or if they were actively checking up on the Wasteland's greatest asset.

He watched as the figure took out a pair of binoculars and looked through them. Regulators were an enigma in the Wasteland, as secluded and silent as they are quick and deadly. Gallows knew the Regulator wouldn't come closer. They preferred to observe rather than directly interact should the situation permit it. Confirming his suspicions, after a short time the Regulator put his binoculars away and went back into the building.

Two hours later, both groups were crammed into the command room of the Ranger's base of operations. Michael had requested that the Pride assist with their upcoming operation, to which Sarah quickly agreed. They filed into the room and Michael went over their original plan and explained that Talon's numbers would be reduced by quite a bit now, making it a perfect time to strike before they can replenish their numbers.

"I know the Pride likes to fight slow and heavy, but Talon has some serious firepower backing them up. It'd be foolhardy to send all of you up the middle with Bolts" The Wanderer said, hiking a thumb at Donovan's modified Sentry Bot.

"Well if we're not going up the middle, what are we doing?" Colvin asked, never before having someone other than Sarah direct them in combat.

Michael rolled out the map that had indications of where the Rangers would be. Then, he points to Miles and Kilo's sniping position. "Gallows, I want you with Miles and Kilo. Keep Talon off them. I don't want the two of them having to break from covering the others if they don't have to."

Gallows nodded, understanding the importance of constant overwatch when taking a fortified position. Michael turned to the two Snipers on the team.

"Colvin, Dusk, I want you two on this hill here" he said, pointing at what was specified to be a rocky hill overlooking the facility. "With you two there, and Miles and Kilo in their positions it should give us about ninety-five percent coverage. Your task is to open up when I give the signal. I don't really care who you pick as your targets so long as you're quick about it."

Dusk sighed. She was hoping that she wouldn't get paired with Colvin. A stern look from Sarah however and she regarded Michael's words with a sharp nod, as did Colvin.

Michael looked to Glade, the Pride's resident Heavy Weapons expert. On his back was a modified Missile Launcher and in his arms he carried a Gatling Laser. In addition, Glade was wearing T-51b power armor which Michael had donated to the Brotherhood. "I want you with Bolts. Use it as cover when it goes up the middle. The T-51b armor should provide enough protection so that any stray shots only scratch the paint."

Glade was confident that Michael's plan would work, but it didn't put him at ease to know that he'd be in the direct line of fire. "What about their heavy weapons? Wouldn't take more than a missile or two to take down the bot. Then I'm exposed."

Michael nodded, turning to Sarah and Vargas. "That's where you two come in. You'll be with Reilly. Don't worry about who they're engaging. I want you two on anyone with heavy weaponry. Take 'em out before they can fire and both Bolts and Glade will be just fine."

Sarah and her second-in-command nodded. "We'll keep you safe, Glade." Vargas said, a hint of humor in his voice.

"What about me?" Kodiak asked, feeling left out. He got a chill sent down his spine when Michael looked at him with a smirk.

"You'll be stationed behind the fort just off the road here" The Wanderer said, pointing to a large rock that would conceal him in his armor. "You're gonna mow down anyone who tries to run away. They'll be too distracted to notice you until they've got rounds flying through them."

Kodiak suddenly understood why the man before him was so feared. He was absolutely relentless to the point of being slightly sadistic. "Got it."

Michael looked back to the map, contemplating whether or not his plan is as sound as possible. After a minute or so, he nodded one final time. "Alright. This will work."

Reilly asked the question everyone in the room had on the tip of their tongues. "When do we leave?"

The Wanderer turned to face them all. They all looked to him. Suddenly Michael felt different. He was working with people. He was leading people. Everyone in the room has placed both their life and their faith in him, and it made him feel strange. If the plan failed, if even a single one of them died during the operation he'd never forgive himself.

He looked to Reilly, one of the only people to express faith in his abilities as a commander. One of the only people that he'd allowed himself to get close to. She was trusting him with her life, just like everyone else in the room.

Then, he looked to Sarah. The first woman since Amata back in the vault who he felt a connection to. Much like Reilly, he felt that he'd go the ends of the Earth for Sarah. In a way, he already had once when he began fighting the Enclave after taking back the purifier. Now, she was the one putting herself on the line for him.

Steeling himself, Michael spoke. "We leave now."


Author's Note: I apologize for the long wait. Now that I've gotten moved, sorted a few things in my life out, and played a couple hundred hours of Fallout 4, I'm ready to get back to writing. I'm not entirely happy how this chapter turned out, since it was written halfway and then picked back up just recently. Next chapter will feature quite a lot of fighting and a hint at what is to come.