So I guess I should start by apologizing for the delay with this chapter, it has come to my attention that some people may have been mildly upset that I left them with a cliffhanger for five months. Let me just say that was a serious my bad on my part, I honestly didn't enjoy watching you twitch, well, maybe just a little bit, but moving on. The playlist for this chapter can be found on my author's page, click the link click the music, and enjoy the show =D
January, 2278
Sarah thumbed the trigger on the laser pistol and pointed it at the chains binding her wrists together, she crinkled her nose as the smell of burning ozone filled the air around her while the chains began to glow red before cracking and falling to the ground. She spared a quick glance at the man with the grenade launcher, the armor covering his chest had been blown off and she could now see the dozens of bloody wounds covering his well muscled upper body. His skin had become an almost ghostly white from all the blood loss but even so his grip on the grenade launcher was firm and Sarah got the distinct impression that if it came down to it he could kill a lot more mutants before they managed to take him down.
Sarah slid the pistol across the ground to Kodiak then leaned down and began unwinding the chains binding her legs together. Her arms were feeling extremely heavy with the added weight of her damaged and inactive power armor; so long as she was still wearing it she would be worse than useless in a fight. She reached into the small nook built into the top of her breast plate and felt for the release valve located within. Twisting the wheel she heard the hiss of escaping air as the joints in her power armor began to separate.
Sarah returned her gaze to Kodiak who had finished burning through his own chains and was passing the laser pistol to Colvin and Dusk. The Super mutants around her suddenly let out a frustrated hiss and she quickly looked up preparing to launch herself into another fight, but the Frankensteins weren't paying the slightest bit of attention to her. Instead they were shooting the man with the grenade launcher a murderous glare before slowly turning as a group and climbing back into their vehicles.
Sarah had to have missed something. Super Mutants didn't retreat, it wasn't in their nature. Not even when they were outnumbered 2 to 1, did they even consider retreating. Sarah turned her gaze to the man with the grenade launcher and stared at him appraisingly. He was barely six feet tall, well muscled, but not ridiculously so; there was nothing to indicate how it was he could go hand to hand with an Overlord and live to tell the tale let alone cause over 50 Super Mutants to run home without so much as putting up a fight. Then she turned her gaze to his eyes and she suddenly saw something in them that was decidedly not normal; they were the eyes of a man with absolutely nothing to lose, and that more than anything else made the man in front of her the most dangerous thing in the vicinity.
As the last of the trucks began to drive away the grenade launcher began shaking in the man's grip before it slipped from his hand; a split second later the man fell to ground along with his grenade launcher.
Sarah angrily shook off her power armor letting it clang to the ground around her, when she was finally down to just her black tank top and skin tight shorts she ran to the man's fallen body and knelt by his side, analyzing his wounds.
She could hear Kodiak cursing loudly behind her as he struggled to get the med kit off the back of his broken down power armor.
"A little help here!"
"I gotcha," replied Dusk, standing up and removing the kit from his back.
She handed it to Kodiak and he hobbled his way over to where Sarah was kneeling.
Sarah put a hand on the man's chest and gently felt for broken bones and internal injuries, she found them…and in great number. The man's breathing suddenly turned into a labored gasp and she realized that in addition to everything else that that had gone wrong for him today one of his lungs had collapsed as well.
Sarah reached into the med kit and pulled out a thick needle. Placing her fingers on the dying man's shoulder blade she began feeling for the correct spot to insert it to relieve the pressure.
"Gotcha,"
Sarah pushed the needle into the man's chest and he suddenly let loose a sigh as air began refilling his lungs.
"I got the Vertibirds on the horn; they say they're 15 minutes out!" Dusk shouted from where she was with the radio
Sarah was only half listening; she was more concerned about the man who seemed to be hell bent on dying under her watch. Yeah, not happening buddy; I've lost enough people for one day.
Sarah began rambling off his injuries under her breath.
"…collapsed lung, massive blood lost, multiple broken bones…we need to get him into surgery immediately."
Sarah turned to Dusk, "Call ahead to the Citadel and make sure a trauma unit is standing by!"
She returned her gaze to the man. She needed to figure out a way to stop the bleeding or he wouldn't the last chopper ride back to the Citadel. Think damnit!
The med kit hadn't been replenished in months and was only running on the bare essentials; no coagulants, no blood packs, just stim-packs, med-x, and surgical tools.
For some reason Sarah suddenly flashed back to when she was about six and was riding horses with her mother along the California coast, she lost her footing when she was climbing off her pony and fell to the ground, cutting open her arm. Her mother had wrapped the arm in a scarf and bound it tight, "…we need to put pressure on it sweetheart…"
Sarah's eyes flashed, "Pressure, he needs pressure!"
Sarah straddled the man's waist and lay down on top of him; sliding her arms underneath his back she hugged him to her as tight as she could. The added pressure of her body caused the blood flow from his wounds to slow then eventually stop.
She heard a stifled chuckle above her.
"Kodiak I swear to god, you make one comment and I will fucking end you!"
"I'm sorry, but if I had known all it took to get a hug out of you was-"
Sarah wasn't feeling up to letting him finish his one liner.
"Dusk kick his ass!"
"Ouch damnit!"
"Anything else I can help with Boss?" asked the Knight Sergeant.
"Yeah, check on Gallows, he was a little the worse for wear last time I checked."
"Gallows is fine," said a deadpan voice walking towards her.
Sarah looked up to see Gallows standing over her head; the large gashes across his bulging muscles had stopped bleeding and already looked as if they were two days old.
"I tend to bounce back," he said dryly is response to her puzzled gaze.
Sarah narrowed here eyes, "You're not human are you?" she stated accusingly.
The Pride suddenly went silent and looked as if they would all really rather be someplace else. The truth was they had always known Gallows wasn't exactly normal, and not just because of his bubbly personality, but they never questioned whether or not he was human, they did however make the unspoken decision to respect his privacy; Sarah was now violating that silent agreement.
Gallows fixed Sarah with a deadly grin in response to her statement.
"Don't worry; I could care less what you are. Radiation freak? Some sort of tinker toy from the Commonwealth? Not my problem, what is my problem however is trust. You don't trust me, so how can I trust you?"
Gallows narrowed his eyes, "Not my issue. I will however bother to point out that without me you would all be dead right now, so whatever I am, and I'm not telling by the way, you should really use a more respectful tone when you're talking to me."
Sarah lowered her gaze for a moment, he was right and she knew it, "Alright Gallows, point taken," she said softly.
Sarah turned her gaze to the rest of the Pride, "This issue is a Pride matter, treat it as such," she said dangerously.
The Pride nodded.
Gallows knelt down next to where Sarah was laying on top of the man, "The pressure was a good call," he said as if the conversation that just took place had never happened.
He placed his fingers on the man's neck. "Pulse is weak…he needs a transfusion before we can move him."
Gallows reached for the med-kit. Cracking it open he pulled out a few antibacterial swabs and began wiping down his forearm.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" demanded Sarah.
"Type O Negative; I'm a universal donor." He stated pulling an intravenous line from the kit and sticking an end into the vein of his forearm.
"Seriously?"
Gallows gave an impatient sigh, "I'm human Sarah…..mostly."
"Oh," she replied awkwardly
Gallows plugged the other end of the IV into the man's arm and Sarah watched as the clear tube turned red and blood began flowing from Gallows body and into the dying man.
After a few seconds Gallows neck gave a twitch and he pulled a stim-pack from the med-kit and injected it into his thigh.
Sarah raised an eyebrow, "You sure you're okay?"
"Never better," he replied scathingly.
That was Gallows for you, ask him how his day is going and he'll respond by telling you to fuck off and die. That at least was still going to be business as usual with him it seemed.
Sarah heard the whirl of chopper blades in the distance and looked up to see twelve Brotherhood Gun Ships appear on the horizon; half of the Citadel's Air Defense Screen. Ever since the Enclave had showed up the Brotherhood had been forced to retask 24 of their combat Vertibirds to provide cover for the Citadel. The Vertibirds were one of the few things they couldn't manufacture on the East Coast, and now that the West Coast Brotherhood had cut them off they were utterly irreplaceable. A few years ago there would have been at least three Gun Ships flying cover for her when she entered this god forsaken city; but being forced to take 24 of their already dwindling supply off of patrol had thrown a lot of squads to the wolves, not just Lyon's Pride.
One Vertibird landed while the rest moved off to scout the city for any lingering Super Mutant presence. Two scribes of the Order of the Staff, the Brotherhood's medical personnel, came running out of the Vertibird with a stretcher and headed towards Sarah.
"Thank you Sentinel Lyons, we'll take it from here," they said, gently lifting Sarah off the badly wounded man.
One of the scribes pulled out a packet of white powder and poured it over the man's chest, causing his wounds to clot. They then gently lifted him onto the stretcher and with Gallows running along side them with the intravenous line they boarded the Vertibird and took off.
:RGFyZSB0byBiZSBBd2Vzb21l:
"Tweezers," stated the surgeon holding out a gloved hand.
His assistant passed him the instrument and he reached into the man's chest to pluck out the bullet he then placed it on the tray along with the seven others he had so far collected
"Give me some light on this wound," he said, and another surgeon repositioned the lamp.
The bullet he had pulled from the man's chest had damn near severed a section of small intestine, but as he watched the tissue miraculously began to knit itself back together now that the bullet had been removed.
"What the fuck is this guy?" he demanded.
His colleague shook her head, "I've studied the effects of radiation for going on 30 years and I've seen some…interesting mutations over the years; but nothing…quite…like…this; whatever this man is…it's out of myleague."
"Thanks Miranda…that…completely fails to cheer me up," replied the surgeon dryly.
The surgeon looked towards the monitor to locate the position of the remaining bullets in the man's body.
"Three left to go people; we're almost done," he informed.
The surgeon held out his hand, "Scalpel."
He made another incision into the man's chest widening the bullet wound so that he could get at the last of 10mms. Once the last one was on the plate he then picked up a needle and thread and started sewing up the man's wounds along with the rest of the trauma surgeons. Once the wounds were sutchered he snipped off the excess thread poking out of the man's skin and placed his tools back on the tray.
"As much I would love to sit in on the rest of this surgery, I have someplace I need to be, I trust you can take it from here Adrian, you don't need me looking over your shoulder?"
"This isn't my first safari Damien," informed the man dryly.
"You trying to convince me or yourself?" grinned Damien, removing his gloves and tossing them into the recycling bin.
"Make sure the video camera is running, I want a record of this cellular regeneration."
"No worries, we got it covered," replied the geneticist Miranda.
"Alright then I'll leave you to it," said Damien tiredly before turning to leave the O.R. He didn't get more than ten feet down the hall when a junior scribe came running up to him with a look of sheer terror etched on his face.
"Sir! I finished the patient's blood work! It's…it's…ah fuck it see for yourself!" he snapped shoving Damien a clip board.
Damien read the first few lines of writing and all color drained from his face.
"Get Citadel Security down here right fucking now!" he roared, turning back towards the operating room.
:RGFyZSB0byBiZSBBd2Vzb21l:
Sarah pulled off the bloody tank top and stripped out of her socks and shorts tossing them all into a hamper. It had been a shitty day all around and all she wanted now was a long hot shower. Sarah grabbed a bottle of homemade body wash from her locker and stepped into the shower stall, turning on the water. A blast of freezing water hit her naked body and she bit back the torrent of curses that came to mind, and instead focused on getting clean. The Order of the Hammer was experimenting with solar technology to power the Citadel's water heaters; it wasn't really working out for them or for anyone else. But what could you expect from a bunch of glorified maintenance drones with way too much free time on their hands?
The water changed from freezing to lukewarm.
"Well score one for the B-Team," muttered Sarah.
Sarah finished her shower and stepped out of the stall reaching for a towel and wrapping it around her chest before heading for the locker room exit. Sarah stepped out into the hallway leading to the barracks and started walking toward her quarters passing another squad coming in from patrol as she made her way there.
Tristan's Bastards now where the hell have they been the past three weeks?
Sarah stopped them with a gesture of the hand.
"Sentinel Lyons," said Paladin Tristan by way of greeting.
Sarah smiled politely; she was always on her guard when he was around, mainly because the man disturbed the living hell out of her. You wouldn't know it unless you actually trained with him, but Tristan Foster was easily the most hardcore son of a bitch in the Brotherhood of Steel, maybe even the world. A tall man with a shaved head, a "Born to Kill" tattoo on the back of his neck, and a lean muscular body that Sarah doubted contained so much as a single ounce of body fat. Tristan was a member of an ancient and extremely dangerous breed of soldiers, one that dated all the way back to the Battle of Thermopylae, to when men were throwing spears at each other instead of nukes and bullets. The man was a razor, the kind of person who was quite simply made for warfare; there was no length he wouldn't go to, and no line he wouldn't cross to ensure the success of the mission.
Irving Gallows may have been the deadliest fighter in the Brotherhood of Steel, but Tristan Foster was the craziest, and by far the most dangerous man Sarah had ever met…with one possible exception but the jury was still out on whether or not he would survive the night.
"Long time no see, what rock have you been hiding under?"
"Reconnaissance mission down south in the Everglades. We got word that the Enclave was fucking around somewhere in the swamps and Elder Lyons sent us in to investigate." He said in a tired voice.
Sarah raised an eyebrow, "Find anything?"
"Twenty foot long alligators, tropical pack raptors, pythons, and a whole fucking lot of mosquitoes. Plus a few crazy ass locals with shotguns and a deep seated dislike for strangers, but while we were there I decided to give them a proper lesson in etiquette, as far as they're concerned we're their new best friends," he said with a look of deep satisfaction.
Sarah felt a shudder coming on but she stifled it.
"So goose chase then?"
"More or less, the Enclave was definitely up to something; there were scorch marks up and down that fucking swamp, but they had all pulled out by the time we got there. If I had to venture a guess I would say they were trying to capture some of the more vicious examples of local wildlife and weaponize them like they did with the yao-guai and deathclaws around here."
"Fantastic, I love good news."
Tristan actually grinned, "Actually I wouldn't mind watching them try and house train a pack raptor. I imagine it would be an interesting spectacle…lots and lots of blood."
Sarah stepped aside so that they could move past.
"Nice talking to you Tristan," said Sarah wrapping up their conversation.
"You as well Sentinel Lyons."
Sarah continued walking down the hall until she reached her quarters. Upon entering the room she collapsed on the bed.
"Hello bed," she muttered into the mattress.
Sarah suddenly felt her body start convulsing, alarmed for a moment she tried to get up, but found she was having trouble breathing due to the gasps coming out of her throat. Sarah touched her hand to her face and felt the tears pouring down her cheeks. Sarah realized she was crying, and just when I thought I couldn't possibly be more pathetic, she thought miserably.
:RGFyZSB0byBiZSBBd2Vzb21l:
Owyn Lyons folded his hands behind his back as he waited for Paladin Kodiak to finish his report.
"We were lucky Elder Lyons, if Superman hadn't come along when did we'd all be dead as fucking fried chicken,"
A ghost of a smile appeared on Owyn's face as he nodded along with Kodiak's summarization. Yes, fate likes to remind us it has a sense of humor from time to time, doesn't it?
"Thank you son…you like tired, you should get some rest," said Owyn gesturing toward the door.
"Thanks sir, I think I'll do that," said Kodiak exiting Elder Lyon's office.
Owyn ran a hand through his thinning hair and turned to his liqueur cabinet, opening it up he pulled out a bottle of aged scotch along with a shot glass. Sitting down behind his desk he poured himself a drink.
"So…we've come full circle at last," he said in an exhausted voice.
Owyn downed the scotch in one gulp, grimacing as the bitter liquid burned its way down his throat. Owyn turned his chair to face the wall safe behind his desk and entered his combination, gripping the handle Owyn pulled the safe open and took out the black leather brief case that lay at the bottom. He sat the brief case on his desk and opened it up, reaching inside he pulled out a set of pre-war holotags that he laid to the side of his desk then reached inside again and pulled out a folder which he laid across his lap. Owen snatched up the bottle of scotch and poured himself another glass.
He never felt older in his life than he did at this very moment, but somehow he had to find within himself to open the folder on his lap and find out what it had t tell him. There was a whole hell of a lot more resting on his shoulders now than the lives of a few thousand soldiers; events had been set in motion, events that would fundamentally alter the course of the human race forever. It was within his power to influence the direction this new course would take, he had a mission now and if he chose to ignore it then humanity, what was left of it would simply…cease to exist…and all that would be left to remind anyone his species had ever lived would be the bones and ruins of a dead world.
Owyn downed the scotch and set the empty glass back down on his desk before opening the folder and removing the sheets of paper contained within it. Owyn set the papers on his desk and began reading through them while the folder slipped to the floor, Owyn spared it a quick glance before returning to his reading, taking a moment to run his eyes over the words stamped across the front.
Department of the Army Eyes Only
PROJECT ICE MAN
"Yes, fate does indeed have a wicked sense of humor," he said eyeing the empty folder.
:RGFyZSB0byBiZSBBd2Vzb21l:
Damien ran his hands through his hair as he stared through the recovery room window at the patient currently handcuffed to the bed and pumped full of enough sedatives to render an elephant comatose. He didn't look like a Super Mutant, but blood work didn't lie, the son of a bitch lying on that bed was anything but human.
"Are you positive we don't need to put a quarantine in place?"
Damien was starting to lose patience, "I don't know how many ways I can say this before it sinks in, but let's go ahead and give it another shot shall we? There is no active FEV in his system, whatever the virus was designed to do to him its already done, most of it has bonded with cells, and what hasn't is to old and degraded to do anything to anyone. Or to put it more plainly he's not contagious, but of course if it would make you feel important go right ahead and seal off the medical wing anyway, I can just go ahead and move all my patients into the court yard for the night."
"Hey listen here Doc-"
Damien turned to face the Citadel Security Officer, "No, you listen you fucking idiot. I'm tired, I've had a long god damn day, and my patience is wearing thin. If you waste one more second of my time that I could spend sleeping then I'm going to dose you with something that I just know will have you praying to the porcelain goddess for the better part of the week. Here's what you're going to do, and listen carefully because I fucking hate repeating myself. Watch the man in the medically induced coma, should by some miracle of divine intervention he come out of it, then call a doctor to put him back into it. Have a pleasant fucking evening, I'm going to bed."
Damien turned and walked away leaving the Citadel Security officer fuming in his tracks. Citadel Security was the Brotherhood's police force, the unit was mostly composed of veteran knights whose years had caught up with them and were no longer up to going on missions and moronic jackasses who couldn't go on missions by virtue of the fact that if they did they would probably get themselves and everyone in their unit killed. The young officer was one of the later. Damien left the medical wing and headed for his quarters. Entering the Courtyard he saw several knights being trained on the night vision goggles Scribe Bowditch had just perfected. Entering the barracks Damien walked down the hall and stopped at the door to his quarters. It was past 10 and she was probably asleep, it would be a bad idea to wake her up. Damien slowly turned the knob on the door and slipped into the spacious room.
She was sitting cross legged on the bed waiting for him. Should have known she wasn't going to sleep easy tonight. Thought Damien mentally kicking himself.
"Sorry I wasn't here earlier," said Damien closing the door behind him.
"What the hell took you so long?" she demanded.
"Problem at work," grinned Damien.
She raised an eyebrow, "Oh, care to enlighten me?"
"Don't worry you'll hear all about it in the morning, no need to give you yet another reason not to sleep tonight."
The woman narrowed here eyes, "What am I? Some delicate flower that needs protecting?"
Damien laughed out loud, "The words Sarah Lyons and delicate flower don't really go hand in hand,"
"Just don't forget it," replied Sarah.
Damien kicked off his shoes and slid out of his lab coat before crawling onto the bed with her.
"I heard about Vargas and Glade…I'm so sorry," he whispered running a hand through her hair.
"It happens," she said dismissively, shaking him off.
Damien smiled sadly. Sarah didn't like people thinking she had feelings that could be hurt, the few times he had seen her vulnerable she would shut him out for weeks afterward. Not a difficult feat; her entire brain was wired to keep people out. Damien at least had gotten used to it.
"Is there anything I can do?"
Sarah turned her gaze to look at him, "You can take off your shirt, pants too while you're at it."
Damien opened his mouth but Sarah placed a finger on his lips.
"If by chance you're planning on making a joke along the lines of 'one prescription for sex coming right up,' I would advise against it, unless of course you want to sleep in the hallway tonight."
Damien opened his mouth again but Sarah covered it with her hand, "In fact, less talking more stripping, nod if you agree."
Sarah shook his head up and down.
"Good boy," she winked.
Sarah pulled off her t-shirt and threw it to the floor, then noticing Damien wasn't moving fast enough for here liking she took hold of his pants and began pulling them off.
"I'm moving woman just give me a second!"
"No," replied Sarah ripping of his underpants as well.
Damien laughed, "Well who am I to argue with a lady,"
"You're doing that talking thing again," Sarah reminded him straddling his waist.
Sarah reached between her legs and took hold of him.
"What? No foreplay?" grinned Damien.
Sarah raised an eyebrow, "What would be the point?"
Sarah squeezes and Damien groans, holding him steady she sinks down on top of him. Damien brings his hands up to her waist but she grabs them and pins them to the bed with surprising strength. Damien didn't need to be told twice that gentle was decidedly not what she had in mind. Still who was he to complain?
:RGFyZSB0byBiZSBBd2Vzb21l:
Colvin cracked open a beer and turned to face the power armor strewn across the work bench. He took a drink and rolled his neck on his shoulders, he felt stiff all over, the lingering effects of going hand to hand with a Super Mutant. He didn't enjoy fighting Super Mutants in close quarters, their breath smelled like ass and they always put dents in his armor; he much preferred to blow their brains out of the backs of their skulls from a distance.
Colvin looked around the machine shop and caught sight of the 77 Chryslus Corvega that the Order of the Steed had been restoring in painstaking detail for the better part of six months. The Order of the Steed had responsibility for all of the Brotherhood's transportation, form humvees to vertibirds. Corvegas weren't exactly combat vehicles but there were a couple of collectors in the Commonwealth who would trade technology for some the things the Brotherhood picked up on its travels; nice cars, works of art, jewelry, basically things that were of no use to people who spent their entire lives at war but held a certain interest to insulated morons who have never seen a Super Mutant in their life.
It looked like the Corvega was almost done though; one of the scribes had already applied a shining chrome finish and white racing stripes to the vehicle. Colvin caught site of a reflection in the car, it took him a moment to realize that he was looking at himself. 12 years of wearing power armor day in and day out had turned his skin extremely pale, which made the glaring black skull tattooed on his neck all the more visible, that combined with his salt and pepper hair served to transform him into the spitting image of death itself.
Colvin sighed at the irony of it and took another drink of beer. In another life that was exactly what he had been, only back then he was a lot easier on the eyes. Colvin sat down at the work bench and started switching out the hydraulics on his power armor, putting the damaged ones aside so that the Order of the Shield could repair them when they had the time. Recycle was pretty much the motto around the Brotherhood nowadays.
"Colvin!"
Colvin turned his head to face the newcomer.
"Jensen," replied Colvin by way of greeting.
"Heard there were a few hundred less Super Mutants in the world thanks to Sarah and her cubs," he said jovially.
"And there are a few thousand more where those came from to Virginia to Maryland," replied Colvin dryly.
"Well excuse me for trying to see the silver lining!"
Colvin closed his eyes, "Is there a purpose to your being here?"
"Uh yeah, I was heading to the gym and I need a sparing partner, you feel up to a boxing match?"
Colvin thought about it for a second…well his armor wasn't going anywhere.
"Lead the way," said Colvin standing up.
Colvin exited the machine shop, and entered the courtyard.
"So I heard an interesting rumor today," said Jensen conversationally.
"I don't gossip,"
"Really? Then I guess you wouldn't be interested to know that they're saying the Outcasts have made contact with the West Coast Brotherhood and that they're considering backing Casdin over Elder Lyons."
"Never happen," stated Colvin.
"What makes you so sure?" asked Jensen.
"Henry Casdin and Owyn Lyons aren't even on the same playing field. The California Elders are stupid, but they aren't that stupid," explained Colvin
Colvin and Jensen reached the Gym and moved over to the sparring mat. Colvin located up a pair of boxing gloves lying on a bench and put them on turning to face Jensen.
"How difficult do you want me to make this?" he asked.
Jensen smiled, "Your call mate, just know that I'm going to be bringing the pain."
Jensen launched himself at Colvin who ducked beneath the blow and sent a sharp jab into Jensen's stomach who backed away gasping for air.
"I have told you repeatedly, never go for the obvious opening, always keep your guard up," said Colvin in a low dangerous voice.
Colvin sent another blow into the side of Jensen's head and junior knight backed away with his ears ringing.
"Why you are incapable of understanding these simple instructions is beyond me,"
He had been responsible for Jensen's AIT training when he had joined the Brotherhood three years back, and his old student was apparently having a hard time remembering his lessons. In truth Jensen probably shouldn't have been assigned to frontline but the kid wanted it so much that no one had the heart to stick him in Citadel Security.
"Yeah, my bad," groaned Jensen shaking his head.
"GET YOUR GUARD UP!" roared Colvin before launching himself at the young knight.
This time Jensen dodged the blow and was able to make a decent accounting of himself for the rest of the match until Elder Lyon's assistant came running up to them.
"Knight Captain Colvin Elder Lyons requests your presence in his office!"
Colvin raised an eyebrow; the Old Man usually wasn't one for burning the midnight oil.
"I'll be right there,"
Colvin turned to Jensen and pointed a gloved fist at him, "Remember what I said,"
Jensen grinned "You're just lucky that desk jockey came along when he did."
"Yes, I imagine I would have felt guilty in the morning for putting you in the hospital wing," replied Colvin tossing off his gloves and heading for the gym's exit.
The walk to Elder Lyon's office was a short one, the Old Man liked to squeeze in a morning sparring session with one of the senior knights, just to remind everyone he wasn't as decrepit as they thought he was so he had chosen an office close to the Gym. Colvin knocked twice on the door then entered.
"You wanted to see me Owyn?"
Elder Lyon's was sitting behind his desk staring at a stack of papers that he quickly put away when Colvin entered.
"Take a seat John," he said gesturing to the chair in front of his desk.
Colvin sat down and turned his head to look into Owyn's eyes, waiting for him to continue talking.
"When I recruited you 12 years ago I promised to commit the resources of the Brotherhood to help you track down a certain individual."
Colvin's eyes flashed but he waited for Owyn to continue.
Owyn let out a sigh, "I just got a report from one of our reconnaissance teams they found…traces…of him up near Evergreen Mills…we don't know why he's come back after all this time, but last time he made his presence known he left a trail of bodies from here to Toronto, I urge you to think carefully about your next course of action."
Colvin was quiet for a long moment.
"Thank you for bringing this to my attention Owyn…but I'm afraid we've reached a parting of the ways, what happens from this point on doesn't concern you,"
Colvin stood up and turned to leave, but paused for a moment at the door and turned back to Elder Lyons, "You've been a good friend over the years Owyn…take care of yourself."
And with that Colvin was gone.
:RGFyZSB0byBiZSBBd2Vzb21l:
Damien reached into the fridge and pulled out two bottles of water before turning around to toss one to Sarah.
"Always remember to rehydrate after exercise,"
Sarah laughed as she caught the bottle, "Just so you know I'm laughing at you not with you."
"But you're still laughing, so my work here is done"
Damien sat down on the bed and took a drink from his bottle.
"Yeah…sorry about that…I got a little intense there didn't I?" she said in response to the question in his eyes.
"Just…a little bit, not that I'm complaining," smirked Damien.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Sarah gave him a look.
Damien chuckled, "I forgot, bad ass soldiers don't talk about their issues they shoot them."
"Exactly," said Sarah nodding in agreement.
"You know I'm here for you though right?" asked Damien seriously.
"Yeah," said Sarah quietly drinking her water.
They were both quiet for a while until Sarah suddenly demanded, "Don't you have any beer?"
"Afraid not, I offered up my stockpile for the wake…" said Damien drifting off.
"Oh," said Sarah softly.
"I'm…uh…I'm going to go take a shower," she said getting up.
"Sarah come on-"
She shook her head, "Damien don't…just…don't,"
Sarah grabbed a towel and walked out into the hallway.
"Fine, nice talking to you too," muttered Damien.
:RGFyZSB0byBiZSBBd2Vzb21l:
Jason groaned as the early morning sunlight shined through the window in his room burning his eyes.
"Wakey wakey hands off snakey," chuckled a voice across the room.
Jason opened his eyes and looked around. He was chained to a hospital bed, and turning his head he saw another hospital bed on the other side of the room, sitting on it was a young man with sandy blonde hair sporting a black leather jacket, blue jeans, and the tooth of some sort of animal dangling from one ear.
"Well hey there roomie, glad to see you decided to wake up sometime this week," said the young man chummily.
"The name's Luke by the way," said the man hopping down from the bed and walking over to Jason.
"Pleasure to meet you," he said extending a hand.
Jason looked at the chains binding his hands to the rails then looked at Luke.
"Oh…right, well this is awkward," said Luke dropping his hand.
"Where the hell am I?" groaned Jason.
"After the Frankensteins beat the living crap out of you, the boys in steel brought you back here for fixing up."
Luke wagged a finger at Jason.
"Way to take a beating by the way…I mean…stellar work…truly," he said, slowly clapping his hands.
"What can I say? They were in a gang," coughed Jason, his mouth was dry.
Luke grinned, "You want a cup of water mate?" he asked walking over to a pitcher and pouring a glass.
"So do you know why I'm chained up?"
Luke cocked his head, "What?...Oh! That! Well it's nothing really; they're just afraid that you're going to Hulk out and murder everyone here. Simple misunderstanding I'm sure," said Luke walking over to Jason's bed with the cup of water.
"Open wide," said Luke pouring the water down Jason's throat.
Jason coughed and spluttered as he drank it down, "Asshole," he choked out, "You could have just given me the cup."
"Yes I could have, but it was more entertaining for me to watch you choke on it," explained Luke placing the cup down.
"You see you and I need to have us a little chat amigo," said Luke hopping onto Jason's bed.
"Sure thing…go fuck yourself…nice enough chat for you?" asked Jason conversationally.
"Oh come now Jason let's not make this difficult," replied Luke, smiling coolly.
"How the hell do you know my name?" demanded Jason.
"Oh I know quite a bit about you Mr. Wolfe, or do you prefer to be addressed as "Captain"? Honestly I don't see the point in representing an organization that no longer exists, but hey, it's your call," said Luke drumming the rail of the bed with his fingers.
"Who the fuck are you?" growled Jason.
Luke chuckled, "Oh I'm quite well known around these parts, but that's another story, and I wouldn't want us to get off track."
Jason narrowed his eyes, "You got a point to make? Then make it because I'm losing patience,"
Luke chuckled again, "Oh boy we wouldn't that now would we?" he said jumping from the bed and spinning to face Jason.
"Let me ask you this Jason, what, exactly are you trying to accomplish with all…this?" he said gesturing around the room.
Jason simply glared at him.
"Oh, revenge is it?" asked Luke stepping foreword, "Well let's be honest, it's a little late for all that isn't it?"
"Fuck you,"
"Again with the verbage, can we not just have a civil conversation?"
Jason flexed his arms snapping the chains around his wrists, "Point of interest, if you're going to chain someone to a bed, at least spring for the good chains."
Luke chuckled again, "Not me who chained you mate; bondage ain't really my scene if you know what I mean."
"You're going to have to take that discussion up with the armor jockeys, but I digress! Back to the conversation at hand!"
"I'm going to kick your ass," replied Jason getting up.
Luke rolled his eyes, "I'm a bit beyond that Jason, but if it would make you feel better, go right ahead and try,"
Jason hopped down from the bed and moved to grab Luke by the collar of his jacket only to have his hands pass right through his body.
Jason jumped back, "Jesus Christ what the fuck are you!"
Luke burst out laughing; "Sorry!" he said waving a hand through the air, "I couldn't resist, but if you could have seen your face…ahh…priceless." said Luke, smirking.
Luke took note of Jason's defensive stance, "Oh lighten up cupcake you're killing the mood," said Luke waving him off.
Jason's eyes scanned the room for something he could use as a weapon.
Luke just smiled and raised an eyebrow, "Seriously brother, all this gesturing is pointless you can't hurt me of course your welcome to have a go at it, I could always use a good…tickle." said Luke still smiling.
"What are you?" demanded Jason.
Luke sighed, "Come on Jason," he said opening his arms, "You're a bright guy, you really can't figure it out?"
Luke waited for a response, when none was forthcoming he tossed his hands into the air.
"Incorporeal, speaks in riddles…looks awesome in white?"
Jason's eyes bulged and he took an involuntary step back.
"And he's got it folks!" shouted Luke clapping his hands together.
Jason was quiet for a moment, "Right…so I really am going insane then."
"Well the line between the sane and the insane is blurry at best; I wouldn't worry yourself overmuch about it."
Jason sat down on the bed and ran a hand through his hair.
"Hey cheer up!" said Luke happily.
Jason shot him a glare, "Blow me,"
Luke chuckled, "You're just a real charming fellow aren't you?"
"The Powers That Be have taken a serious shine to you Jason Wolfe. You aren't just some random asshole Jason; you're a special asshole."
Jason folded his arms, "You are taking entirely too much interest in my asshole"
Luke ignored him.
"You have no idea what you're capable of do you? The strength the speed, you think that's where it ends. You ain't but scratched the fucking surface. You see Jason you have a power, the power to decide the course of humanity. You can either save this species, or…destroy it forever."
"What the fuck are you talking about!" snapped Jason.
Luke cocked his head towards the door, "We're about to be interrupted so I'm going to have to cut this short."
"Not to worry, I'll be paying you a visit again real soon. In the mean time, might I suggest you try pulling your head out of your own ass and realize that there are bigger things at play here than your rather simplistic need to kill people."
Luke turned his head toward the door again, "Later,"
And with that he suddenly vanished.
The door swung open and a beautiful blonde woman Jason felt like he had met before entered the room. The woman looked at Jason, then towards the broken chains on the bed.
"Note to self: When drugging Super Mutants don't skimp on the sedatives."
Jason cocked his head, "Have we met?"
"What you don't remember? I'm downright insulted," said the woman folding her arms.
"Don't be, likely you just weren't that good in bed," replied Jason casually.
The woman raised an eyebrow, "Jokes now is it? And just when I thought Super Mutants couldn't possibly get more obnoxious."
Jason smiled, "Did you just call me super?"
The woman cracked the barest hint of a smile.
"What do you say we start with introductions?"
"Ladies first," replied Jason.
"Sarah Lyons,"
"Jason Wolfe,"
Sarah smirked, "Well lookie that…progress."
Sarah continued, "Now let us move on to the topic of 'what the fuck are you',"
Jason tilted his head, "Something tells me you're really not going to like the answer to that question,"
Sarah raised an eyebrow, "Really? Well what coincidence because something tells me that if you don't start talking I'm going to shoot you in the fucking knee caps," she said pulling out a handgun.
Jason smiled, "You know, I'm kind of starting to like you,"
Sarah cocked the gun.
Jason chuckled, "Well okay then, just don't say I didn't warn you."
"Well I guess first off I'm a soldier, not unlike you only the club I belong to is considerably more high end than yours."
Sarah narrowed her eyes, "You're Enclave? Why save my life?"
Jason returned the glare, "I'm not Enclave, although I would very much like to meet the fuckers. As to why I saved your life, it was entirely unintentional I assure you, I was just spoiling for a fight and it looked like the Frankensteins would provide me more of a challenge than a couple of jackasses in rusted out power armor."
Sarah raised an eyebrow; she had struck a nerve apparently.
"I see, and you giving medical attention to one of my people was…what…exactly?"
"What?"
"Vargas, we have cameras attached to our humvees; I'm in your debt for that he…they all were my responsibility, I'm glad to know that he at least didn't die alone," she said quietly.
Jason suddenly realized she was being sincere, fan-fucking-tastic, now I can't hate you he thought bitterly.
"You're welcome," he replied uncomfortably.
Sarah closed her eyes and shook her head, "Woops a daisy, looks like I got us off track, back to the topic at hand."
Jason stared at her appraisingly, she was able to switch emotions on and off at will, just like him. Human beings aren't born that way, it's a skill they only acquire after having been put through so much shit that their only options are to either learn how to shut out the pain of what they've done and what's been done to them or to quite simply swallow a bullet and hope that makes it all go away.
No regardless of how he might feel about his current situation it was impossible for him to take out his frustration on the woman in front of him, she was in the same fucking boat he was, just of a slightly different make.
Jason suddenly didn't feel like dancing around anymore.
"I'm a Captain in the United States Army; First Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta. 200 years ago I was pumped full of a retrovirus designed to rewrite my DNA and chemically alter my body. I was told that the idea was to create an army of super soldiers to end the war with China, something obviously didn't go according to plan, that or I was fed a line of bullshit. After my operation I was put into Cryonic Storage so I really can't say for sure what happened, only that I was sound asleep in a government bunker while my friends and family and everything I fought and bled for was burned to ground around me. Fast forward 200 years to a week ago and I wake up to find that everything and everyone I ever knew is dead and gone and that Washington D.C. is a fucking crater…aren't you glad you wanted to know?"
There was a long uncomfortable silence following that monologue.
Sarah was debating whether or not she should jab the man with a tranquilizer dart and lock him back up.
Jason saw the wary look in her eyes.
"I told you wouldn't like the answer."
"You're fucking serious aren't you?"
"Pretty much yeah,"
"Well, whether or not I believe you isn't really the issue here, I was sent to evaluate whether or not you pose a threat to the people on this base and I don't think you do."
"Come with me and we can see about getting you some clothes…not that you don't know how to rock a hospital robe," she said, her eyes staring rather pointedly.
Jason looked down to find that there was an awkward opening in front of his crotch.
He covered himself up, "You're lucky, I usually charge admission for that sort of view,"
At that Sarah actually laughed, something she didn't think she was physically capable of anymore and once she started she found she couldn't stop it took her over a minute to finally reign it in and when she did she found she was on her knees with Jason staring over her with a bemused expression on his face.
"Sorry," said Sarah standing up and forcing her voice back to normal.
"No problem…" said Jason smirking slightly.
"Yeah, so clothes follow me," she said exiting the room.
Jason walked down the hall with a growing sense of déjà vu it took him a moment to realize where he was but when he finally exited the medical wing and entered the courtyard it hit him.
"What the fuck have you assholes done to the Pentagon!" he demanded angrily.
Jason couldn't even begin to describe the emotions flooding through him right now; this installation was a symbol of the strength and skill of the United States Armed Forces. It was built to be a fortress, a bastion, utterly immovable and indestructible, the heart and center of the American War Machine. To see it now like this…well if he needed yet further proof that the world he came from was dead and gone he had it.
Sarah checked over her shoulder to look at him and realized he was genuinely pissed off, and what's more he had called the Citadel the Pentagon the base's original name had faded from public memory countless years ago and there weren't many people left who remembered it outside the Brotherhood and the Enclave.
"When we found this place it was a bombed out wreck, what we did was rebuild it; you'll have to forgive us if we weren't able to restore all the furnishings," she said dryly.
Sarah watched as the man's expression went from furious to utterly blank within two seconds. Did he just…switch off?
"You said something about clothes?" the man deadpanned.
Sarah was feeling distinctly uncomfortable, there was something about this man that bugged the living hell out of her but she couldn't place it…file it away, focus on the task at hand.
"Right…well let's get moving then," she said resuming her walk.
Sarah entered the barracks and started walking down the hall towards Glade's old room, he and Jason were both about the same size and build so his clothes should fit, plus I doubt he will be needing them in the foreseeable future she thought bitterly.
Sarah passed one of the memorials that had been set up in the halls around the barracks, whenever a knight died heroically in battle a small memorial was placed in the barracks in their honor so that every time their fellow knights walked past it they would remember their sacrifice. This one had been set up almost a year ago to honor one of the dozens of knights who died during the Battle for the Jefferson Memorial. Sarah was tired of looking at it and feeling guilty so she sped up her stride and when she was about to turn the corner she realized that Jason was no longer with her instead he was staring pale faced at the memorial she had just passed.
"Who is this?" he demanded in a low strained voice.
Sarah walked over to him and stared at the person in the photographs on the wall.
So much for not feeling guilty, she thought bitterly as suppressed memories came flooding back to her as she stared at the pictures.
She focused on one in particular, the memorialized man along with Dusk and Kodiak sitting on top of a dead Behemoth smoking cigars. She could easily spot him due to the large one oh one stamped across the front of his power armor and the distinctive pack raptor tooth dangling from one ear.
"That's Knight Corporal Luke Dawson but most of the locals around here knew him as the Lone Wanderer…he's dead now."
She didn't add "because of me" she was pretty sure everyone already knew as much.
Sarah turned to look at Jason who looked like he had just had his head dunked in a bucket of ice water.
"Why do you ask?" she said suspiciously
"How sure are you he's dead?" said Jason turning to look into her eyes.
"Very," she said starting to get pissed off.
"Why do you ask?" she repeated herself.
Jason thought about it for a second, he could always lie, despite generally telling the truth he was very very good at it. It was a skill one picked up after a few years of working with Constantine Chase, who was himself the undisputed master of bullshit. But Jason had only just recently realized that, because you see he had another skill when it came to the truth, Jason always knew when was being lied to, he could see it in a persons eyes and just know whether or not they were telling him the truth…with apparently just the one exception…Chase, he looked into his eyes and saw…nothing…Jason had assumed that meant he was telling the truth but now he realized it meant something else entirely.
Jason looked into Sarah's eyes, well he wasn't going to lie to her for some reason the idea didn't sit well with him, but fuck all if he was about confess to talking to dead people, instead he just said.
"I was curious," that at least was true.
Sarah glared at him; she knew that he was holding something back, but if wasn't going to talk then she doubted she could make him.
"Follow me," she growled.
Sarah opened the door to Glade's old quarters and stopped for a moment to check her surroundings. Glade always did have his own particular style. The walls of the room were covered with posters of 200 year old movies and tropical destinations that Glade had managed to dig out of the rubble semi-intact. It hit her once more that she would never see him again, never roll her eyes at one of his cheap come-ons, never go into a fight knowing that he had her back. The emotions threaten to boil over again but she angrily shuts them down, she would be damned if she was going to start weeping in public like some broken little thing who can't cut it with the big boys anymore…even though nearly half the time that's exactly what she thought she was.
Sarah moved to the footlocker at the foot of the bed and popped it open and tossed Jason a pile of gray and white clothes that were jokingly referred to by the East Coast Brotherhood as Wasteland Fatigues. They were designed to blend into the environment around here and a Kevlar biweave had been stitched into pants and jacket to provide protection against small arms fire. Still it didn't do much against high caliber rifles and energy weapons which is why most knights stopped using them after the Enclave showed up.
"I'll wait outside while you get dressed," and with that she left him alone in the room.
Jason looked down at the clothes in his arms; gray combat boots, long johns, a white hoodie, and some gray pants and a jacket made of cotton canvas and reinforced with Kevlar. It was a get up similar to what soldiers were wearing a few decades before he joined the Army. Tough thermal fabric designed to blend into your environment, only the combat fatigues Jason had scene were more formal and were covered with United States military insignia that way anyone who saw them would know exactly who they were fucking with in case they felt like starting a fight.
Jason threw on the clothes and headed outside to where Sarah was waiting for him.
"I seem recall owning a hover bike, you wouldn't by chance know anything about that would you?" he asked casually.
Sarah narrowed her eyes, "Are you asking if we stole it?"
"Did you?""
"No, we didn't steal your little crotch rocket, the Brotherhood of Steel does not steal, we did however put it in the motor pool for you, feel free to use it to get the fuck out of my face,"
What the fuck was it about this guy that set her teeth on edge!
Jason felt a small jab of guilt; I think I'm starting to become a bit of an asshole…I need to get away from here, social interaction clearly isn't agreeing with me.
"I'm sorry, that was…a douchey thing to suggest. Thanks for the clothes and for patching me up; we're even as far as I'm concerned."
"…So I guess I'll see ya," he finished uncomfortably
Jason sniffed the air…traces of brake fluid, grease, and petroleum…yep he was pretty sure he knew where the motor pool was. Jason started walking down the hall.
"Wait," snapped an impatient voice.
Jason looked back over his shoulder.
"You should stay for the wake…you…were part of the battle as well,"
Jason processed that for a second, is she serious? Never mind it doesn't matter.
"Not happening," he stated, starting forward again.
What? She didn't realize it until write then but she was counting on him being there, because if he wasn't that meant…
"Please," she said softly.
Jason turned and looked into her eyes, oh fuck me that was a mistake; her eyes were so beautiful and sad that saying no was going to make him feel like an even bigger dick than he knew he was, and he wasn't exactly the biggest advocate for Jason Wolfe these days.
"I've seen more funerals more wakes, than you can ever fucking imagine. Tell me have you ever had to look a grieving mother in the eyes and tell them that their only child died a hero…and that their country was actually a better place because of it? I have, more than once, and each time, each fucking time I told those grieving parents how their kids died, I always used the word hero, because telling them the truth meant telling them that they died scared and alone because some piece of shit in the White House, or on the senate floor had decided that their was more to be gained by sending their kids overseas to get cut down by the Chinese, than by actually talking to the people we were trying to kill."
"You know the main benefit of everyone you ever knew or cared about being dead is? You never have to put up with that kind of shit again…so no…not happening,"
Sarah was quiet for a long moment after that.
"You really are telling the truth aren't you?" she whispered.
"I haven't lied to you yet anyway," shrugged Jason
Sarah let that process for a few seconds before turning here eyes back on Jason. If everything he said was true…then she had a question.
"Why? Why did you do it?" she demanded.
Jason smiled, Why did we break the world?
"Because…war…war never changes…and neither does humanity," he said bitterly.
Jason turned once more to leave but was stopped again.
"Please…please come to the wake,"
"Why the hell is it so important to you!" he shouted turning back towards her.
Sarah smiled sadly, "Because if you're there…then maybe just this one fucking time everyone's eyes won't be on me."
Jason thought about that for a few seconds then gave a heavy sigh.
"Fuck me."
:RGFyZSB0byBiZSBBd2Vzb21l:
Jason drank the beer, and did his best to ignore the four dozen people staring in his direction. I must be out of my fucking mind for agreeing to this, he thought bitterly. So far the only person who had approached him was a large extremely muscular tan man covered in tribal tattoos, he just stared at him for a few seconds, chuckled darkly, then walked away with a look of deep satisfaction on his face. Jason noticed that as the man walked away people gave him just as wide a berth as they gave Jason.
"So I see Gallows finally made a friend, good thing to, I was starting to think he was a bit unsocial," said a black skinned man walking up to him.
"People call me Kodiak," he said extending a hand.
Jason shook the hand but made no move to introduce himself.
"Oh the strong silent type is it? Are you a ladies man? I bet you're a ladies man."
Jason gave him a look.
"What with the natural charisma and rugged jaw line you would have to be right?"
"Do you want something?" deadpanned Jason.
Kodiak laughed, "Dusk bet me I couldn't get you to talk, and thanks to you she owes me her Geronimo Jackson holodisk,"
Jason was quiet for a moment.
"You're a man…and you like Geronimo Jackson…I hope I wasn't putting off mixed signals or anything, you're really not my type."
"What's wrong with Geronimo Jackson?" demanded Kodiak.
"Nothing at all and there's nothing wrong with dudes liking other dudes either, but me being a heterosexual I'm not a big fan of listening to either," said Jason walking away.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw a pretty Asian woman give a snort of laughter and watched Kodiak fix her with a glare.
Jason walked over to Sarah and whispered into his ear, "You owe me big time for this,"
Sarah just smiled, "Yuuup," she said under her breath.
"Nice speech by the way, I think I remember hearing it somewhere though…you ever hear of a movie called Four Feathers?"
Sarah choked on her beer.
"Yeah I thought you might have," said Jason smirking.
Sarah turned to glare at him, "If you tell—"
"Relax; a good speech is a good speech regardless of where it came from. I'm just interested to know where you saw the movie, it wasn't exactly a mainstream film back in my day so I'm wondering how you came across it."
"My mother found it in the wreckage of Old Hollywood," said Sarah uncomfortably.
"Your mother? Is she here with us?" asked Jason.
Sarah turned to glare at him, "Only in the existential sense," she replied dryly.
Jason couldn't think of anything to say after that.
"Well, it's been…an experience, maybe I'll see you around sometime," said Jason smiling.
"Maybe," said Sarah returning the smile
Sarah watched him go, once he was out of sight she felt a hand on her shoulder, turning she saw her father.
"What's up Dad?"
Owyn's eyes darted toward the door the man had just departed from.
"We need to talk Kiddo," he said in a low voice.
Yes this chapter was really 12,000 words long, I actually had to trim it down for fanfiction to accept it, and some scenes unfortunately got the axe. You may have noticed that the sex scene didn't really leave anyone satisfied and needing to smoke a cigarette? Trust me, the uncut version was MUCH steamier...it's too bad you guys will never see it huh? Oh and yes you may or may not have noticed that I fibbed a little bit about the Lone Wanderer being in the story, well I have a REALLY good reason for that you see...oh wait a second guys I'm getting a call...Wussup you got the Nick Man! Oh you don't say? Really? No way! No Way! He DID not...