Okay, skipping forward here again, don't worry, still going to get plenty of plot and character development, I think.

Chapter 26

Nick is angry. Not the frothing rage that Tyler sometimes gets while in combat. No, it is more of a seething fire that simply refuses to die out, no matter how long it burns. The Brotherhood of Steel, the supposed good guys, refused to help him. They claim that so long as the Purifier can't work, then there is no need to pursue reclaiming it from the Enclave, Nick still does not see how it is a good idea to allow your enemy to hold a base right on your front doorstep though. That aside, Luther is missing, Tyler is injured and receiving treatment at the Citadel, and now he has received a distress message from Amata in vault 101! No rest for the fucking damned.

He ducks into the well hidden cave door where the vault is hidden. He activates his pipboy light and walks slowly through the darkness. During his escape, he didn't notice all the skeletons littering the cave floor. Some of them have wooden signs in their hands. Some of the signs look like they are pre-war, but others seem more recent. Considering what his Father told him, it isn't unlikely that these people were petitioning entrance back when the vault was open to the surface for a short time. Damn the Overseer and his fucking desire for the perfect society!

Nick steps up the massive steel door and glares at the 101 proudly painted on its exterior. He enters Amata's name into the nearby control panel. He knows there is a camera somewhere and looks around for it, eventually spotting it in the upper left side of the vault door. He flicks it off as he presses enter and the door slides open with that screeching sound of meal scrapping against metal. He steps through and is instantly hit with a sensation of nostalgia. This was his home. The place where he grew up. It does not matter if they are happy or sad memories, this was his home, but no more. He shakes off the feeling and approaches the first door. Just as he is about to open it he thinks he hears something on the other side. He draws his assault rifle and flips off the safety.

Kicking open the door he leaps through with his weapon raised. A shot is fired off next to his head along with the shout of, "Don't move!" He reacts by spinning and slamming the stock of his rifle into the gut of the security officer standing there. The officer doubles over and Nick easily takes the weapon from him. "Look," the man gasps, "I don't know how you got in here, but I suggest you leave right now." The fact that the man is trying to intimidate him ticks Nick off even more.

Nick holds up the mans pistol and proceeds to take it apart expertly. He drops the useless pieces to the floor and pockets the full magazine of 10mm rounds. "I got in the same way I got out."

The officer lifts the mask on his helmet and Nick thinks he recognizes him. The man stares at him, and for some reason Nick lets him. The man's expression goes from fear, to wonder, to surprise, and then back to fear. "Oh god," he mutters, "its you. I, we, you are supposed to be dead!"

Nick finally recalls the man's name, Officer Gomez. One of the only adults from his time in the vault who treated him with any decency. "Gomez," he growls, stepping forward menacingly, "where is Amata? I swear if any of you have hurt her in any way there is nowhere you will be able to hide from me!"

Officer Gomez's face goes pale. "Amata? Well, I suppose she is down with the rest of the rebels. A lot has changed since you left. It would probably be best, if you talked to them about it. Lucky for you its me you ran into, the others would have killed you, or tried."

Nick glares at Gomez and jerks his head to the side, motioning for him to lead on. The disarmed officer stumbles forward and leads Nick through a few halls and some doors. This is not the way Nick came when he escaped, and does not recognize where they are until they emerge into the atrium. The first thing Nick notices is that a makeshift barricade has been set up in the atrium's center. He is impressed by how well it could command the comings and goings of everyone in the vault. A gunshot causes him to raise his rifle. Some old man who he can't remember is aiming at the opposite end of the atrium where Paul, one of Butch's Tunnel Snakes, is scrambling back down into the lower levels.

The old man turns to Nick and Gomez with a shaking hand and the pistol still raised. "You saw that right? He just came at me. I had to shoot." Nick steps forward and slaps the gun out of the man's shaking hand. "What the hell!"

Nick shoves the man and growls, "You should not be holding a gun if you can't hit someone who is that close to you, let alone if you can't even lift the damn thing!" The old man's eyes appraise Nick, taking in his tattered clothes, bloodstained armor, and overall wasteland appearance.

"You," he hisses through clinched teeth, "you shouldn't be here. Because of you and your Father my wife is dead! She had a heart attack when the vault went into lock down and was eaten by radroaches!"

Nick does not care. He turns back to Gomez, "I know the way from here, I suggest you warn the rest of your security buddies what if they cause any trouble with me they will pay for it."

Gomez shakes his head. "You've changed. Not for the better. I hope you can talk Amata out of this little rebellion, or at least get her to speak with her Father about it. This needs to end and soon." Nick mostly ignores him and descends further into the vault. At first, he just follows the overturned furniture, but then he passes the apartment he once shared with his Father. Not really knowing why, he steps in and looks around. The place is essentially the same, which is to say there is nothing special about it. He walks into his old room and looks around again. He is surprised to see that some of his old things are still here. He reaches down and picks up the sturdy baseball bat someone gave him and he never used. He can't believe he left this behind, it could have saved his life. He recalls the shitty bat he found when he first left the vault and the way it splintered during his first ever raider attack, figures really.

He reaches over his shoulder and shoves the bat into his pack. He turns to leave again, but notices the small framed passage sitting on his old desk. He picks it up and reads it out loud. "I am alpha and omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him who that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life, freely." He undoes the back of the frame and takes the little paper out. Before his Father, before the Purifier, James talked to him about this. He said it was his Mother's favorite passage from something called the bible. With a shrug he rolls the paper up and slips it into his pocket.

It isn't hard to find the rebels base, all he has to do is follow the scent of hair gel and he is led right to Butch. At first, Butch doesn't seem to realize that his hiding place is shit and seems to think he can jump out and ambush Nick. Nick slips past him with ease and taps him on the shoulder. Butch screams and whirls around, swinging a knife through the air. Nick grabs his arm and takes the knife out of the idiot's hands. "You shouldn't play with sharp objects," he growls, pressing the knife against Butch's throat, "you might cut yourself." Butch's eyes go wide and he stammers a few sentences. Nick steps back and flips the knife around in his hand before offering it back to Butch, "Keep it, but don't go using it unless you know how."

He turns his back and is about to step into the medical offices, when Butch finally finds his words. "I always knew you were some sort of freak."

Nick stops and turns around slowly. He locks eyes with Butch and glares at the boy until he squirms in his own skin. He steps closer to him and whispers in a low tone, "You were right. So tell me, what part of your self preservation says it is a good idea to kick the scary monster carrying the big gun?" The push the point he lifts his assault rifle and puts it against Butch's chest. Butch swallows nervously. "I am here to save you and this little rebellion," Nick continues, "don't push your luck."

Before the idiot can respond in any way Nick walks away. The door to the medical area slides open and everyone inside turns to him. They all let out a collective gasp at the sight of the man standing there. Nick glares at them searching the room for Amata. The door to the offices opens and she steps through, here eyes locked on his, but the look in her eyes says she does not fully believe it is him. He holsters his rifle and holds his hands out to either side of himself to show that he isn't a threat, not right now at least. "I got your message." She starts walking towards him. "What is going on down here?" Her pace doubles. "Amata?" She launches herself through the air at him and out of instinct he prepares for a fight. Instead he gets her arms wrapped around him and her face buried in his neck.

"God Nicky, I missed you." He stands there for a second, unsure how to react, but then he relaxes and hugs her back. He had forgotten the way she smells, clean, like vanilla. She steps back and seems to realize that everyone is staring at them in confusion. "Everyone," she addresses the whole crowd, "this is Nick, he is back." The expressions of surprise on their faces makes Nick feel like a freak show again. "He survived on the surface, so can we." Nick tenses again. No. No way in hell is he going to allow her to go up there and be destroyed by the wasteland. Amata turns and smiles at him. He makes a promise to himself, of all the times he as fucked up, of all the loss he has experienced, he will not loose her.

Ah, Nick. So much pain, and so much more to come.