The following day was fairly quiet for the Cowboys at Megaton. After an early breakfast at the Brass Lantern the crew split up around town to search for clues regarding the riddle trailer.

Leon and Felix investigated the local Church of Atom, with Leon asking about the history of the bomb while Felix prowled through their rectory in search of hidden keys. Leon got an earful of religious nonsense while Felix found mostly junk and an unopened bottle of Scotch… which he may or may not have nicked from the Confessor's office.

Ginny had a private chat with Simms about the recent events of the town. She had wanted see if the aging sheriff had seen anything out of the ordinary was taking place. Several caravans were presently in town, but otherwise things had been normal.

Rafael inspected the bomb itself. From his appraisal the bomb was live but unarmed. Rafael made a mental note of asking Leon about a possible diffuser contract in the near future. With the current tools he had on him however, he couldn't hope to diffuse more than a landmine, let alone a two-hundred year old nuclear warhead.

As the day dragged on the team eventually reconvened at Moriarty's for analyzing what they had found throughout their day.

Rafael walked in to the dirty bar and headed straight for a table towards the back where Ginny, Leon and Felix were situated, passing by a suited businessman, Nova the working girl and the bar row where Gob was dishing out drinks.

Rafael pulled out a chair and sat down amidst his compatriots. "I've got nothing."

"You aren't the only one, we've been hunting down lead for this hidden key and we've got jack to shit to show for it."

"What kind of key doesn't open a door?" Felix asked, face scrunched in displeasure at his charred squirrel. Moriarty was a bad barman and a worse cook.

"Terminal code perhaps? Maybe it accesses one of those terminals we're constantly finding out in the wastes." Ginny supplied while cutting her Brahmin fillet into chewable pieces.

"That's always a possibility. The third line referred to the location of the key, but we don't know what it unlocks yet." Leon remarked in between bites of his Iguana.

"Except that it isn't a door." Felix added unhelpfully.

"Brilliant work there Felix, how about you make yourself useful and go pay up for our tab."

"Awww bullshit! Why do I have to pay?"

"Because the rest of us are pulling seniority on you-"

"Vincent said that you weren't allowed to abuse your rank-"

"-Based on age." Leon finished smugly, shooing away the ex-Lamplighter. As Felix walked towards the bar Leon called out to him. "What else are you going to spend all of your caps on kiddo? Bullets? Nova?"

"A man who has to pay for it is no man at all." Rafael toasted to Leon, who clinked his glass back. "Amen brother."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "I don't know why I put up with you two pigs. You especially Leon, although don't think I forgot about you Rafael."

"And what did I do wrong Bonita?" Rafael grinned at the placid Ginny.

"Becca. That was uncalled for and unnecessary."

Rafael nodded slowly before shrugging. "She made the call, if she's going to sleep it up with most of the camp then that's her prerogative."

"Prerogative… what does that mean?" Ginny mouthed to Leon. "She can do as she pleases… wait how did you know that Rafe? I thought you were some caravaneer's bastard." Leon answered to Ginny while grilling Rafael.

"You can get an education anywhere." Rafael answered noncommittally.

Leon looked far from convinced but Ginny steamrolled past his argument. "Look, I get it. You and Jaxon are hardened killers from the wastes, and I know the laws work a little differently depending on where you are and who you ran with. But when you run with the Cowboys? I know Vincent doesn't like this shit, and Haskel wrote these rules up for a reason…"

"You don't know Haskel Margulies. You have nothing to go on but word of mouth. Word of advice Virginia, don't let word of mouth color your opinion. It's liable to get you killed out in the wastes."

Felix returned to the table. "Tab's been paid, let's go get some rest."

Leon nodded and stood up. "We'll meet with Walter tomorrow, ask about any terminals in town that would require keys to access. If not Moira might have some more info. Surely there's been a terminal here that has been coded within the last ten years."

Rafael nodded his head in agreement. "I'm going to stay back here for a little while, I've got some thinking to do."

"Just don't stay up, you'll need your beauty sleep." Leon joked, all too vividly remembering Rafael's night terrors and the whispers.

Rafael snorted and took another swig of his beer, as he waved off his companions who quietly exited the bar.

After counting slowly to fifteen seconds Rafael stood up from his seat and walked to the anteroom by the entrance to the bar, standing right in front of a Beige-suited businessman, who was drinking quietly and reading over personal letters.

"Burke?"

The man looked up at Rafael, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly.

"Little Rafael, aren't you just the puzzle piece I was looking for."

"I wasn't sure it was you, but you are in uniform. How is it that no one's run you out of town yet?"

Burke took another sip of wine before setting his glass on end table next to his chair.

"When you travel like I do you don't exactly advertise your name and manager."

Rafael nodded. "What are you doing here Burke? I thought Tenpenny fired your ass."

Burke visibly flinches at the comment. "I went into retirement, enjoyed the wonderful sights of the wasteland. After Mr. Margulies abandoned his position I was summoned to resume my duties. I didn't mind much."

"You were Tenpenny's Talon liaison weren't you? You shacked up over at Bannister while Haskel pushed around various wastelanders for their land and goods."

"Mister Tenpenny has very specific plans for the Capital Wasteland, and you have a golden opportunity to be part of them."

Rafael tapped his hand along his leg. "Go on."

"Do you consent to this agreement?"

"If I know what I'm consenting to."

"Very well… well you're essentially rewiring Atom."

A cold feeling settled in the pit of Rafael's stomach. "For what purpose?"

"I shouldn't have to spell it out Rafael, but I can promise you three things for your services: Firstly, a room in Tenpenny Tower; Secondly, 2,000 caps to be delivered upon meeting me at Tenpenny Tower following the correction."

"And the third thing?"

"I can introduce you to your father. You can be formally reunited after roughly twenty years of separation."

"Where is my father?" Rafe asked.

"Not until you've followed through will you become privy to that information. If you are interested then I expect you to come back tomorrow."

"I'll… be sure to sleep on it Burke."

"Please, my name here is Mr. Manhattan."

Vincent had been sitting at his desk, repairing his combat shotgun methodically when a loud knock interrupted him.

"Vincent, we've got a significant problem." Haskel's voice echoed from outside his door.

Vincent shot up and opened the door, revealing the gaunt man.

"The problem? How were the Regulators?"

"Pressing, and they were informative. Vincent, the Regulators informed me that a Brotherhood party returning from Fort Constantine was hit as they were working they were passing Bethesda. The Regulator's state that the entire expedition was wiped out and that their pack animals and loot were missing, alongside nearly a whole arsenal of energy weapons."

"Not exactly pressing Haskel, why is this a problem."

"The Power Armor was left behind. Hundreds of caps worth of Power Armor was left behind while a large amount of tech was pilfered."

Vincent rubbed at his chin and motioned for Haskel to sit down. "Energy weapons and tech… but no power armor taken. Power armor is crushingly heavy… could the raiders have left it behind?"

Haskel shook his head. "The bodies were of a proximity to Bethesda that it would be asinine to think the raiders didn't strip the bodies of their armor."

"What do we know about the tech taken from Fort Constantine?"

"I conferred with Teo upon arriving, he mentioned a recovery of bomb related materials at the Bomb storage building."

"Bomb related materials… anything specific?"

"Casings, timers, detonators-"

"Wait, how close from Bethesda were the bodies found?"

"Almost to the Potomac Junction by Wilhelm's Wharf."

"Suspects?"

"Regulators can only peg two groups with enough kick to bring down Brotherhood patrols and loot the corpses: Super mutants and Talons. There are no known Mutant bases around that junction, but the Regulators noted that Talon patrols have been spotted around the DC side of the river."

"So the Talons are making bombs, we may need to form a contract in cooperation with the Regulators, get paid to eliminate Talon presences around the outskirts of DC."

"What bothers me is that Constantine was the largest pre-war Nuclear Warhead storage in DC. If the Talons are looking to construct weaponry, why would they start… building something so…"

"Parts for a bomb, but nothing to arm it with?"

As realization crashed around the two men, they looked at each other. "They aren't building a bomb, they're arming one. When you worked for Tenpenny, did you ever order any covert hits on wastelander towns?"

Haskel shifts uncomfortably. "Calverton, but that was years ago."

"Not my point, did you ever send them in disguised."

"For that mission, yes. We needed them to blend in in order to assassinate the residents…"

"Go grab Jaxon, I'll load up some weapons and inform Lazarus of our departure, meet me at the front gate in fifteen minutes."

"If we don't stop we can make it to Megaton in by daybreak."

"Nighttime travel could get us killed, but I don't see any other choice."

With a nod Haskel moved outside, while Vincent slide the last component of his shotgun into place.

As Rafael began to drift off to sleep he heard the whispers yet again.

"Ruin awaits."

"Ruin for what?" He mumbled before he succumbed to sleep, unaware of the ramifications of what he was going to do at daybreak.