Title: Worries, Loss and Family

Paring: Fem. Sole X MacCready

Prompt: None. I just wanted to write what would happen between this pair after all the events of the game.

Warnings: Mild smut at the end.

It's been five years, to the day, since that night at the Third Rail. Five years since a handful of caps had bought her a not so temporary companion and changed her life forever.

It wasn't that she thought change to be a bad thing, considering her circumstances, but this type of change- she hadn't expected. He hadn't been expected. But then again, things never really are as you expect.

At the age of twenty five, she'd found herself married, baby, picket fence and all. Her life seemingly happy and complete, even though it wasn't and then, in an instant and a big puff of smoke, she'd lost it all and 200 odd years.

Some would think that as traumatic as that had been for her, she'd wake up and put a bullet in her head. But she'd found reason to carry on. Shaun, her son. He'd been her reason. Then, that too, had failed her.

Yet now, here she was. Stretched out on a dirty cot, satiated and content. A calloused hand smoothing gently over her ribs and abdomen. And she was content. Frighteningly, so.

She was getting attached, she could feel it. Could feel it in the way she sought out his attentions, in the way she sighed at just simple contact with him. It's one of the reasons she hasn't brought him along on their to take Codsworth or Nick, instead. She needed the distance to clear her head and as always, just as she thought she was ready for what was to come, she would end up here again.

"You being a lot more quiet than usual. Making me think, I might need to try that again." He chuckles at his own words, interrupting her thoughts and the hand stroking her begins a downward descent over her pelvis and she lets out a little sigh.

"Guess not. " He says, mouth descending down her neck.

"We can't, Mac… I still have to make my rounds and Preston probably has a million more things the Minute Men need me to do." Cat says, but doesn't make any moves to untangle herself from him.

"Come on, Cat." Mac murmurs, turning her around so that their chests are pressed against each others. "It feels like I haven't seen you in weeks.." He mumbles as his lips press into hers and his hands snake around her to palm her ass cheeks.

She wants to say no. Knows there are a million things that need her attention. But here she is, indulging him again. Letting him have his way with her, ways that had her gasping and pleading for more just a few minutes ago.

Then the mechanical sounds of Codsworth bursts into their intimate bubble and they have only enough time to cover themselves before he enters her bedroom.

"Mum? You awake?... Excellent. Sir Valentine would like to see you."

She's up and out of the bed in the blink of an eye, not caring in the least that she's probably traumatizing poor Codsworth in the process.

"Oh dear…" He whines and turns in the opposite direction. " I'll go report my findings to Sir Valentine. Meet us there when you're ready."

Spotting one of her laundered denim dresses on a crate by the far wall, she shoves it over her head and begins buttoning the line of buttons down the front when she hears MacCready getting out of bed.

She turns in time to see him slip into a pair of jeans, his head bowed low in thought.

"We'll finish later tonight. I promise." Cat tries to offer as a way of apologizing for leaving him high and dry, again.

"Nah. It's okay, boss. You don't need to promise me anything." He turns then, his back to her and she knows. She knows something's wrong. He doesn't call her 'boss' anymore. She hasn't been his boss in a long time and the sudden return of the nickname makes her feel a bit uncomfortable.

Cat's not sure why he's acting this way but knows she doesn't have much time to figure it out. And trying to explain her rush to leave would probably dredge up more questions than she was willing to answer at the moment. They'll talk about it later she decides and strides up to him for a quick kiss. Mac, for his part, doesn't show his usual excitement for their kiss and she has to physically raise his chin to connect their lips. He does respond, his arm weaving behind her back to bring her onto his lap and his lips and tongue caress her's softly.

"You should probably go. Codsworth and Valentine are probably waiting for you." Mac mumbles when he pulls away.

"Okay…" She gives him an odd look then reluctantly gets up and leaves. Making a note to have a long talk with him when she returns.

A few shacks down, she finds Nick and Codsworth lightly chatting about the progress of repairs when she enters the room.

"Ah, good that you've joined us Catherine. Codsworth has made contact and brings a reply. Would you like to hear it now?" Valentine questions, giving no hints that he knows about her morning adventures with a certain merc.

"Yeah, pass it over. I'll upload it onto my PIP Boy." He hands over the holotape and makes to grab a pack of cigarettes from his front pocket, removing and lighting one in the process.

She slip in the tape through the little slot on the side and it starts making a static-like noise before it gives her the option to play. The screen stays blank but the sound begins to clear enough for her to make out a voice.

"Daisy tells me I have you to thank for.. for.. well, everything. I got the caps you sent and Daisy says she can have me there in a few weeks, if I want that is. I'm not sure I should but I want to…." There was some more static and the sound went silent for a few minutes before it returned. "I miss him, you know. It's been so long and I.. I just.. I need to be… I'll go. I'll tell Daisy tonight so that she can set it up. And again thank you."

The holotape stops playing and with a wide smile turns up to face Valentine. "When do they arrive?"

"In about two weeks. Daisy asked for you to meet them down by Bedford station. Seems to be infested with feral. She might run into trouble there so it's best if we head out now and clear out the area before they arrive. After that it should only be about a day or two trek back to Sanctuary."

"What are we waiting for then? Off we go!" She says, and is actually excited to be off on another adventure. Anything to avoid her thoughts for the time being. Thoughts that were steadily driving a wedge between her and the only person to truly understand her in forever.

"Aren't you going to inform MacCready before we leave, Mum?" Codsworth mentions hesitantly and that makes her stop. Cat knows that she should tell him, but she can't find it in herself to do it. She doesn't know what his reaction will be to her 'meddling' as her mom would have called it. Though it didn't feel like meddling. At least, not to her. He'd had the chance to do this same thing, and yet he hadn't. That worried her too. Because she knew he wanted to and she feared that he might just be waiting for an opportunity to leave for just that reason. The fear was an unfounded one, she knew that. But that nagging worry ate at her. To the point that she took matters into her own hands.

Hopefully, this didn't break them apart even further.

They were off in a matter of hours, fully armed and ready for anything that came their way. Usually, she prefered the company of just one companion during her journeys, MacCready's. It gave her less people to worry about and she only truly needed one person to watch her back at any given time. Yet this time, this time was different. She needed to make sure that they arrived back to Sanctuary in one piece. All of them. So, she took both Valentine and Codsworth with her, leaving everyone behind with more than just a little curiosity. Mac hadn't been around to wave her goodbye when she'd left and that was just fine. She was dreading the 'talk' with him. Dreading having to lie, again, to is face about the reason behind her many trip without him. But she made sure to make quick stop by Preston just before leaving. Someone needed to keep an eye on Mac while she was gone.

It took them five days to reach Bedford station and another day and a half to clear it and the surrounding area. Thankfully, they'd brought enough supplies to last them about three weeks and with everything she'd scavenged in the last few days, they'd need to make more space in their packs.

On the morning of their twelve day, she heard the familiar sounds of Radstag hooves coming up to their encampment and was happy to see Daisy leading the pack. She was up and out of her seat, stretching her arms wide enough to hug Daisy. The older woman, for her part, laughed deep in her throat, always a bit surprised when Cat demonstrated such gestures.

Then Cat turned, looking around for Daisy's charge and was surprised to see him sleeping in the back of the makeshift carriage she'd hooked up to a radstag. His hair was a light colored brown, straight and silky looking. The clothes he wore needed some patches, his face needed some obvious washing and the shoes on his feet needed some replacing. But overall, he looked in one piece, if not a little underweight, but generally in good health. She made a mental note to stop by the Red Rocket station and get him some things before they made that last hour trek to Sanctuary.

Daisy, parted ways with them just a few hours later, claiming her need to return to her shop before it was taken over by some hooligans.

He seemed shy at first, if not distrustful, but after Daisy's gentle reminder of Cat's connections and past help, he softened up enough to make small talk.

When we arrived at Red Rocket, Nick suggested we spend the night and travel the rest in the morning, but Cat's excitement only rose the closer they got and she refused to put off their arrival any more than necessary.

They made their way inside the gated settlement established at Red Rocket and she made a bee-line to her storage room, of which she kept one in all of her settlements. There she found some suitable clothing and footwear for their new charge, and arranged for a bath to be setup. While he bathed, she had a meal prepared and set out his new clothes, putting the discarded ones away to be laundered.

As soon as their meals had been finished she resupplied their ammo cache and they set out once again. It was already dark but she knew the area well enough to know that it got monitored for any hostile activity. Anyone or anything they could possible come upon on their short journey to Sanctuary could easily be dispatched by either one of them.

By the time they reached Sanctuary, her charge had fallen asleep again and she'd took charge in carrying him the rest of the way to town. She had hoped to see MacCready upon their arrival but quickly discovered that he, as well as Preston, had taken the perimeter watch for the night and wouldn't be back until morning.

Disappointed and a bit tired herself, she decided to make the final trek to her home, still carrying the small form of her sleeping companion in her arms. Once inside, she deposited him on her cot and moved on to sub level of her home where she kept her storage room. With practiced ease, she removed her weapons one by one. Her armor was the next to go, dropping it in a crate to her left and replacing it with her usual sleepwear.

She returned upstairs and grabbed herself a bottle of purified water, using it to watch the grime off her face and neck. She'd take a full bath in the morning, too tired for anything else right now. Her disappointment still evident in the way she slumped her posture and sighed deeply when she took a seat on her battered couch.

Now that she was alone, her mind had actual time to process the potential consequences of her actions. She'd brought him here because of her own selfish needs, even though she could convince herself otherwise. Cat knew that it had been her fear of getting abandoned, again, that had prompted her to search him out. To bring him here. Again, she reminded herself that she had no evidence of such of things, but she knew. In her heart, she could feel his yearning to be with him. She knew it was only a matter of time, caps couldn't hold someone forever. So, she did what she thought needed to be done, in order to have peace in her new life. In their new life. Sure, she hadn't planned on what to do when this moment arrived but she had kept telling herself that that would come and that things would work themselves out- one way or another.

She sat on that couch for what felt like hours, just thinking. Trying to come to terms with any outcome. Yet, before she realized it, she had fallen asleep on that raggedy couch, her heart and thoughts a mess.

When she came to the next morning, it was to the sight of MacCready's leather clad back. He had pulled up a chair to face the cot and was currently contemplating the still sleeping occupant of the cot. She couldn't see his expression from her angle, but she could see the tension in his shoulders and prepared herself for what she knew would come.

Sitting up on the couch, she shoved a hand through her hair, hoping to get it into some semblance of presentable. She was only able to mumble a weak "Mac..", before he was up from his chair and facing her. His blue eyes red-rimmed, though dry and his voice hoarse as he spoke.

"Why, Catherine? Why bring him?" He was out the door before she had a chance to respond and she gave no care to her outfit before heading out after him. Barefoot and stabbing her foot on every rock and pebble in her way, she found him on the outskirts of town.

"Mac…. Mac! Wait…"She said, her voice ragged from chasing him. "What-the-fuck MacCready?! Aren't you happy to see him?"

"Of course I fuc…, Of course, I am. But why bring him here after everything that's happened? What, now that you've made the happy family reunion, you gonna toss us out? Cause, I'm not having that. I'll leave before I have to watch you with someone else." He turns from her with a huff, not noting the bewildered look on her face. "Don't act like I don't know what you've been up to with your little detective. Always leaving town, without any more than a good bye. You've done not spent more than a few days with me before you're fucking off with that.. that thing again. You jump out of our bed because he needs to see you…. So what, you brought me a consolation prize so you can leave me with a clear conscious?"

He punches a nearby tree, his agitation clear as day and leaving her more confused than ever. "Mac…" She tries again, and again he ignores her.

"Don't. Just don't… I thought you … I don't even know what I thought. I knew it was to good to be true, but I believed you anyway. And as much as I didn't want my son to see me like this, like the merc I am, after so much time and nothing having changed. I needed to do better, but I didn't. I thought I was doing better here with you, but I don't really have you do I?"

He asks and it's so painful to hear, that Cat does the only thing she knows, the only thing she feels.

Crossing the space between them, she wraps her arms around his neck, though he tries to move away. Yet, she kisses him like there's nothing better in the world. Like it's the only thing in the world. Lips gracing lovingly over his, their tongues taking curious dives within each others mouths. It was exquisite in a way that was unexplained and she gave herself fully to their kiss. His reluctance melted and his arms wrapped around her, shoving her firmly against him.

"I fucking love YOU, Robert MacCready.." Cat says between kisses. .

"Then why do you keep running? I feel like at every turn, you're looking for a chance to get out of town- and not with me at your back." He replies gruffly, his lips still gracing hers. His hands have wandered down her back and under the waistband of her sleeping shorts. There, they squeeze until he has a good hold on her, lifting her so that her legs can wrap around his waist.

"I didn't mean to make you feel that way…I just didn't know what your reaction would be. I didn't want to upset you.." She kisses him again, her passion and love for him, evident in every twist and turn of their lips. She doesn't want to tell him her real reasons, but lying to him wouldn't help either. They needed to clear the air before this became more permanent. "... and I… I feared that you'd leave." She looked away, although her position on top of him didn't help matters. "That you'd leave the moment you got a chance or an excuse. I know I'm way too attached and in parts, I wanted to see how'd it feel to be without you. So, I took every chance I got, every job. And it was killing me. I didn't know how to ask you… we've been happy for the last two years and I knew it wouldn't last. It couldn't. "

She turns again to look at him, her courage completely gone but the need to finish blazed enough to keep her going.

"So, I thought it would be best to bring him. You've become a decent man, Mac. This is your home as much as it's mine and even if we're not together, you belong here and so does he. He needs you…" I need you. She wanted to finish but she didn't want to selfish.

Silent moments passed by and she choose to leave it at that. Nothing more could be said that hadn't been. He knew she loved him and he loved her. So, when he began his slow removal of her clothing, she let him. And when her bare back was pressed against that same tree he had recently beaten, she didn't hesitate. Legs wrapped around him, gyrating against him in search of that friction she loved. His lips were on her neck, probably leaving some very large marks. A kinda of sign that read " MacCready was here." She'd wake up with a body full of them if this kept up.

Then he was slipping in so gently, that that in itself was torture. Stroking himself inside her to a rhythm that was driving her insane. She bucked and mewled, gaining nothing but a swat in the rear. Her nipples had become so hard, they ached and with her free hand she grabbed a fistful of his hair and brought his lips to her erect tips.

"I love you, Cat." He half moans, half whispered onto her chest and then he's filling her so fully, so completely that when he erupts inside her, she can't do nothing more than twitch.

"I love you." She whispers, their sweaty foreheads touching.

After they come down from their respective highs, he let's her go but not completely, and his hand finds hers once they're dressed. She walks him back to their shack with a softer heart and weaker legs.

Then they're in their room and Duncan's there with a huge smile on his face. The two hug and talk for what seems like hours and Cat's more than happy to leave the two alone.

After her rounds, check-ups with other companions and with more than a few awkward conversations out of the way, she returns to her shack to find a sleeping Duncan and a smiling MacCready waiting for her.

"So, what now?" He asks, embracing her once she's close enough.

"Can we keep him?" She replies playfully with a smile.

"I'm serious, Cat. I'm not expecting you to become his mother… but I want you around and I want him around. So, what does that mean for us?" He questions and his grip gets tighter around her.

"I've told you. I love you and he's a part of you isn't he? The only difference this will make is that we'll have to add another bedroom to this shack. So, no bitching about what junk I pick up." She smiles at him again and he practically drags her out of the room and down into her storage closet where he proceeds to make love to her again and again.

This ones a little more exploratory than smut but what can I say, that's where it went. I'm not completely happy with this one but I promised a daily update and I will keep said promise.

I hope you enjoy.