Hope you don't mind, this one is a bit long, I don't know how it happened, but there's a bit of love and plot in here...

"Should they have gone this long without checking in?" Piper breathed, resting her arm against the wall above MacCready. Madelyn watched them from across the room, holding Duncan as he flipped through a comic book.

Robert had his long legs tucked between his rear and the armrest with his back to her. In his lap he was also reading a comic book. Piper picked up his hat and sat it on the backrest so she could look at him easier. Madelyn's heart fluttered and she felt a glare coming on. She didn't like how the woman was leaning to look at him. "Listen, angel, none of us can tell Nate what to do. He, out of all of us, has proven he can handle himself."

Angel? Madelyn's heart stopped. She'd never heard him say that before. He… never called her that. She frowned and looked over Duncan's shoulder, her cheeks bright red.

They were in the living room of the house next to the Clubhouse. This house had been made into a library-ish area, with books and chairs and shelves all over the place. Robert thought it would be nice for them to sit and relax for a little while. When they'd picked up Duncan from the playground he'd insisted on sitting in her lap while they read a Grognak the Barbarian comic. He was making up a story to go with the pictures because he couldn't read well enough yet. He got some of the words though and showed off often how he wrote his name well. His father was quite proud of him, and would sign his name next to the boy's. Madelyn liked seeing Robert write and read. It was something it seemed a lot of wastelanders didn't bother with.

He'd found his favorite comic though, and retreated to the chair by the door. His chair by the door. Normally he didn't sit with his back to the entrance, but he seemed to make an exception when he sat there, curling up in a ball in the old red thing. Duncan liked sitting on the ground, which meant she and he were on the other side of the room so that Madelyn could have her back against the wall for support.

Piper had come in with concerns about Nate and Hancock, reflecting her own feelings as the two of them had been gone three days without so much as a check in or sighting from any settlements still up. It'd gotten bad enough Preston had decided to make a trip this way from the Castle.

But, as important as all of that was, Madelyn couldn't get over that little five-letter word. Angel.

"Love?" a hand touched her shoulder and she snapped up to see Robert kneeling beside her. That name would take a while to get used to. But she felt her brows furrow and she looked back down at Duncan in her lap trying desperately to reach another comic without moving.

"What?" Oops, there was a little too much bite behind that.

His brows lifted and the corners of his mouth dropped. "Something wrong?"

"No," she stated. Her one-word sentences told the truth though. She never spoke so shortly.

"Madelyn," he whispered and sat down beside her, his hand on her sliding across her shoulder to the other so he could pull her into his side. Then he leaned forward and grabbed the book for Duncan easily with his long arm. She didn't look at him.

Angel.

The word had only ever been said once or twice around her, and it had always been an endearment. Hell, Glass tried it on Reagan once and she'd gotten pissed he thought he could call her that. It'd been something she thought she'd liked to be called –by the right person. Now it sounded like a swear. Something to curse someone with.

Angel.

She wanted to gag.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his face close to hers. She looked at him sideways, and met MacCready blue eyes. It was its own shade, a color that Duncan and he shared, and she hoped that if they had kids that those children would have that lovely shade as well instead of her grey ones.

"Angel?" She lifted a brow at him, coming back to the thoughts festering in her mind now. Again with the one word replies, but he knew the moment the word left her lips what had her upset.

Surprise seeped in, and he blinked. "Oh, Madelyn," he frowned and looked at the doorway where the reporter had been. "I don't call her that because I like her. It's… actually the opposite." He smirked and then glanced at her. "I can't stand that woman. She talks way too much, and she just gets all in your face…" he shook his head. "Oh no, Angel's the only thing I can call her without getting slapped. It doesn't mean anything. I swear."

She looked down at the back of Duncan's head. He turned a little to look up at her and grinned, his cheeks showing dimples, "Mrs. Piper's annoying."

She grinned and then looked at Robert who chuckled and praised the boy with a rustle of his hair. "See? I swear, love, you don't have anything to worry about. From her, or anyone."

Love…. That was much better than Angel. "Okay," she forced herself to smile and look at him. "I'm sorry, I've… never had this before, and I don't know how to react to things." She was embarrassed. She shouldn't have acted that way.

"Just have to talk to me when there's something wrong," he said simply and kissed her temple. "Communication is key. I don't want anything between us," he added and she felt him tug lightly on her shirt. The flirt had a lot of meaning behind it, and it made a heat grow in her stomach.

That made her smile and she tilted her head against him and read over Duncan's shoulder.

Two more days without word of Nate and Sanctuary was on edge. Robert was finally getting stressed out as it seemed like more people went to him now and he couldn't stand it. He thanked the heavens and the earth when Preston showed up and started taking charge. They decided they were going to send out a couple of teams to look for Nate and Hancock.

Madelyn carried Duncan against her side while she walked him to childcare. He was rubbing his eyes and looking around at the morning light. "I wanna go with you and daddy…"

"I know, precious," she whispered and kissed his forehead. He nuzzled her neck and she sighed. "Daddy and I will be back soon though, I promise."

"I miss you, mommy," he said, his voice soft, a shade away from a cry.

"I won't be gone long, okay?" she leaned away so she could look at his face. She liked when he called her mommy, more than she probably should have, but she didn't think about that right now.

He sniffed and rubbed his nose now. "You don't go missing, not like Mr. Nate and John," he said, trying hard to get the words out clear.

"I'm not going to go missing, I promise," she kissed his cheek and he nodded. Then he kissed her cheek back and nuzzled her close when they came to the childcare building. "You'll be a good boy, yes?"

"Yes," he nodded and patted her cheek. She smiled at him and kissed his hand. He seemed to be comforted by this and she sat him down on his feet. The door opened and a young helper smiled at her.

"Hi there," she looked at Duncan. "Hey there, big guy, sleepy?" He nodded and reached for her hand. She took it and waved to Madelyn before closing the door.

Maddy stood there on the steps, her mind drifting off. She liked this. What she was doing here, living in houses instead of barracks, waking up and doing whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. She liked being with Duncan and Robert. And… she wouldn't have this if she went back to the Brotherhood.

With a hard swallow, she turned around and looked at the crowd of people gathering at the gates. Robert was already over there, with Preston, talking through a plan. When she got there everyone had been split into two and three man teams. She was obviously paired with MacCready, who didn't want anyone else with him.

When he came to her side she lifted a brow at him. "Why not have another person?"

"I want to be able to move quickly, and… honestly I would go alone, but I know you wouldn't have that," he confessed and she smirked.

"Hell no I wouldn't," she put her hands on her hips and glared up at him. He smirked and ran a hand over her cheek, and then pulled on the bill of her hat, which tugged on her ponytail.

"Come on, we need to get moving."

And they did. She was able to keep up fairly well, considering the pace they held. By the time they stopped for a break, though, her legs and arms were aching from jogging and holding her ten-millimeter.

"Do you want to eat anything?" he asked, throwing his rifle over his shoulder as he picked through the bag they'd brought.

"Um, I'm not sure, I'm not really hungry," she looked at the sky. It had to be about two hours passed noon.

"I'm surprised Nate took so many off road trails," Robert said offhandedly while he chewed on some squirrel. "He normally sticks to the roads pretty well… since he knew most of this area before the war, and it makes it harder to track."

"Maybe he was trying to save time?" The sniper had found what he thought were the Sentinel's tracks walking beside Hancock's headed east of Red Rocket. So while the others split off in different directions, they followed this path.

He narrowed his eyes and looked around. "This can't be right, there's no reason Nate would come out this far east…"

"Why not?"

"All the settlements getting attacked are south of Sanctuary, and Sanctuary is about as far west as you can get. So… if anything we should be focusing on the settlements located in the west half of the Commonwealth…."

"That's where the others are going, right?" She lifted a brow at him and Robert nodded, taking another bite. "So if there's something down that way they'll find it."

"But these tracks…" he looked at the ground and chewed with his lips parted while he thought.

"What is it?" she was starting to get a bad feeling.

"Fuck," he breathed and cringed, but didn't correct himself. The word shocked her, and he stood, throwing the stick the squirrel bits had been on. "How didn't I see that?"

"What?" she stood up and reached for his arm when he growled wordlessly and kicked his boot over the ground, spraying rocks and dirt.

"Nate and Hancock," he back tracked some and pointed out the prints. "Look," he gestured. "They're walking, straight, side by side."

"Okay," Madelyn frowned, feeling stupid that she wasn't following his train of thought.

"Nate's army–Brotherhood, whatever, he always… pivots while he walks," he straightened up and showed her, walking in a straight line and then twisting slightly to look around, causing the straight track to skew slightly. "And Hancock does a circle about every hundred yards," he gestured to the tracks. "These are supposed to be their tracks, but these aren't them."

"So we've followed the wrong tracks?" she lifted an eyebrow.

"Someone's set this up, they wanted these tracks to be followed," he looked off behind her where they'd come from and then back the direction they were headed.

"So… should we go back?"

"But who made these tracks?" he asked, brows heavy. "If Nate and Hancock are that way someone else will find them, but we're the only ones running this direction," he looked back at her and she frowned.

"But it could be a trap."

"Yeah," he stepped up to her, holding her shoulders. "Do you trust me?"

"Of course," she looked up at him, her head tilted back.

"Then we keep following these tracks, if nothing else, they come to a dead end and we go back."

"Okay," she nodded and he gave her a tiny smile. "Lead on."

"Just stay behind me, and stay close."

Robert was pissed. They'd wasted a whole day and a half following the trail for it to come to a road and die off completely. She never heard so many swears out of one person before, and since she'd never heard him cuss… it almost scared her.

"Rob, it's okay," she reached for his arm and he turned on her sharply, before stopping himself. She stared at him, grey eyes wide.

"I'm sorry, love," he held her face and kissed her forehead sweetly.

"We should take a break, it's getting late…" she looked at the sky. They hadn't stopped but when it was too dark for him to see, and even then he refused to sleep. She'd only closed her eyes for an hour or so. "That building looks easy to secure," she gestured to a house.

"Okay," he nodded and took her hand in his as they walked.

Once they were inside they found a nice room on the second floor with a halfway clean bed. She sat down on it and kicked her boots off while he lit a couple candles to give them light, in the dying evening. He looked at her and tilted his head. "Comfortable?"

"Not as much as I could be." She smirked, "I would sleep better with about fifty other beds and people sleeping around me."

He smiled and came to her side, looking at the window over the bed. It had been boarded up and the light of the candles wouldn't reach it. They didn't have to worry about someone outside seeing them.

She took his hand and pulled him down next to her. Madelyn wanted to be close to him, and as he removed his coat she felt that heat in her belly return. Without a word, she leaned in and started kissing his neck.

He made a curious noise and let her mouth his throat, moving her lips up to his eventually. "We don't have to do this," he said and she nodded.

"I want to."

"Now? Here?"

"Yes," she was sure. She regretted shying out of it before. She wished she would have let him keep going. Now she had the chance again and she wanted to take it.

"Okay," he breathed. He had all the motivation he needed.

"I love you," she whispered as he kissed her jaw.

"I love you, Madelyn," he growled into her neck.

It didn't take them long to strip each other. Then he kissed her like he did the first time but this time she wasn't as nervous, and he didn't work as slowly. She didn't mind that though, because she actually kind of wanted to rush him.

That was until his face was buried down between her legs and then all her thoughts scattered and she could only just managed to moan his name over and over, her fingers locking in his rough brown hair. He seemed happy by her reaction and praised her with bites to her thighs and long, loving sucks to her clit. Her release built up, coiling deep inside her, and when she drew her legs up and held tight to her own knee he picked up his pace, bringing her to her end.

Her world shattered and she cried out, her back arching and she tried to cover her mouth to stifle the sound, but she couldn't silence herself.

"How was that?" Robert asked while he wiped off his face and came up to kiss her.

"Amazing," she breathed and he smiled.

"Are you ready?" he tilted his head, his lips moving to her jaw. She could feel him rubbing against her thigh.

"Yes," she said and smiled despite her heart pounding in her chest.

Robert moved so his length rested on her clit, and he took this moment to adjust himself, lowering to her, his face right above hers, and his hands on her. His hips rocked forward and she felt him glide his length up so the head brushed her belly button. His balls touched against her and she let out a slow breath. Then Robert withdrew the length rubbing her clit backward now.

He moved back and forth and each time he moved just a little closer until she was watching for him inside her. His tip split her soaked lips and pressed up into her, stopping with just his thick head stretching her.

"Oh," she whispered, uncomfortable. She looked at his face, he was watching her carefully, but his expression was focused. He withdrew and then slid back in, just the head entering her, working her slowly until she was comfortable with it. Her breathing began to slow as she focused on relaxing under him.

"You feel so good," he whispered, his forehead pressing against hers. Again he withdrew and slowly pushed back into her, only his hips making the movement. One of his hands rested under her head to take hold of her hair while the other massaged her left side. She was holding her legs up on either side of his hips, squeezing his waist.

"I don't know what to do," she whispered, embarrassed.

"You don't have to do anything, love," he met her gaze, putting her at ease. "I'll do all the work, just relax and tell me if you want to stop."

"Okay, I just want it to be good for you," she whispered, unsure of where her voice went.

"This is perfect, Madelyn," he reassured her. His hips moved a little more, pushing his thick shafted deeper. She could feel it as it stretched and filled her.

She had never put anything in there before, so the sensation was enough on its own to work her up. It felt so good, but it hurt. Her hands gripped his forearms because she didn't know what else to do. When he withdrew, it almost felt more uncomfortable. But he kept going, deeper and deeper, slowly, to the point she thought he was never going to run out of length, and she was going to run out of space for him.

Then his hips touched hers and he paused. Robert's warm balls rested against her, touching the space between where he'd speared her and her ass. He held himself there and looked at her face. "How do you feel?"

"I'm good," she said and looked down between them. Their chests were touching, but she wanted to look at them. "Can I… see?" she asked. He nodded and readjusted so that he was on his hands, pushing himself up, but kept his hips against hers. She reached down and ran her fingers through the hair in the V of his waist. "I want to watch it go in," she looked back to his face and he nodded.

"Put your feet on the mattress and hold onto me," he suggested and she did. She gripped his shoulders and he reached around her with one hand to hold her head up for her. His head rested against hers and he began withdrawing his hips.

"Oh," she breathed as his length pulled out, glimmering in the candlelight, soaked with her juices. She was impressed that something so thick and long could fit inside her. Robert's hips stopped when the head rested between her lips back outside her entrance. "I'm ready," she said.

Robert nodded and pushed into her slowly. Her eyes were locked on the sight of him disappearing inside her. She let out a long breath as he filled her, the pain returning but it was accompanied by an amazing feeling of pleasure.

"Oh, Robert," she whispered, her eyes locking on his now. He was looking at her, his lips parted and his blue eyes focused. "Go a little faster," Madelyn requested softly.

He just nodded, his hips automatically moving continuously now, without a pause. The friction felt good and she loved when he got down to the base, their skin slapping together. He seemed focused, and she wondered if it was hard for him to do this.

Madelyn bit her lip and whispered, "Faster."

Robert immediately picked up again, the continuous motion now moving slightly quicker. She glanced down at him entering her and felt pleasure fill her. His hand on her head held her up to him and she took this chance to kiss him. Her lips brushed his at first, then he kissed back, the rhythm of his hips faltering with the new task before picking back up.

Madelyn felt her cheeks burn and she asked, "Can you go a little faster?"

Her sniper picked up his pace and bent his face to kiss her neck. Now his speed was adding a gentle roughness to it and she found she liked it. "Christ, Maddy," he whispered and bit her shoulder.

Madelyn moaned and tightened around him. "Rob–" she breathed, his thrusts shaking her and the bed with a delicious force she'd not expected she would enjoy. "Robert–"

"Madelyn," he grunted and now moved at a swift pace that took away her breath. Her back arched and she cried out his name, repeated it with each of his thrusts. "Madelyn," he pressed his face into her neck and held her tight. "I'm close."

She didn't really know what that meant but she doubted she should ask. His thrusts were quick and shallow. His skin was slick with sweat and burned. His breathing was ragged.

"Fuck–" he grunted and his body froze. She felt him pulse inside her, and a warmth fill her. Then he pulled out, seeming to regain some control. "Fuck," he repeated softly and they watched as his head pulsed and spat onto her stomach and breasts.

"Wow," she whispered, meeting his eyes, "There's a lot."

"It's been a while," he said softly and kissed her cheek. "Christ, I'm sorry if I hurt you, love."

"No, Robert, that was…" she had no words. "I never knew it would be like this."

"Good," he smiled at her, kissing her cheek again. The cold air was starting to chill her and her sniper got up, pulled his pants on, and found a shred of fabric to clean them off with. Then he found his coat and draped it around her to warm her up.

"That was so…" she whispered, unable to stop smiling.

"I'm happy you liked it so much," he said proudly.

"Can we… go again?" she asked softly.

Surprise caught his eye. "Love, you'll want a break. It's going to be hard for you to walk in the morning. And I need a break, I only got so much in me –I'm a bit out of practice."

"Okay," she put her arms through the sleeves of his coat.

"We'll see how you feel tomorrow," he promised.

"Okay," she nodded and looked down at her sex. There was a little blood where she'd been lying, but nothing too bad. Now that she sat still, she noticed the pain radiating up to her belly. "I'm happy we did this," she told him.

"Me too," Robert smiled and knelt in front of her after. "It won't hurt every time."

"Good," Madelyn touched his face. "It didn't hurt that bad, just it would be nice if it didn't hurt at all." His lips caught hers and she lost herself in the kiss.

"I just want you to know, I've been dying to do this and it's really hard for me not to take you again."

"I think I'd like if you took me again," she flushed.

MacCready kissed her blush, causing it to deepen. "Tomorrow. I promise we'll do something. Whatever you'd like."

"Okay," she nodded and relaxed down into the bed while he curled up next to her. The burning was getting a little worse. Of course he'd be right. She took a deep breath and ran a hand through her green hair, then rolled over and buried her face in the crook of his neck. "In the morning then."

"Love?"

Madelyn opened her eyes and met stunning blue ones. "Hi," she breathed and he grinned.

"We'll need to get going soon," he said and his hand ran up her bare thigh.

"Oh," she smiled, looking at his fingers when he stopped.

"How do you feel?"

The soreness was aching in her lower body, but she wanted to do more. "It hurts a little," she said and he nodded.

"We'll wait then."

"No, please, I want to…." She sat up and held his arm to keep him close.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

He nodded and leaned in to kiss her. But he stood and she frowned up at him. He was dressed and ready to go and now he was getting her clothes together. "I don't want to hurt you," he said when he saw the confusion on her face.

"Robert, I'm fine," she sat up and winced.

"No you're not, love," he sat down beside her on the bed and cupped her jaw, meeting her grey eyes. "We have all the time in the world. But right now we need to get moving, it's going to take us a little time to get back to Sanctuary," he touched her bare stomach and she looked down. "We'll go as slow as you need."

Madelyn took her time to stand and tested her steps. It wasn't the worst pain she'd ever felt, but it was definitely different. "I'm ready," she breathed and he helped her get dressed before taking the lead to return to Sanctuary.

It was a painfully long walk, and Madelyn felt horrible for wanting to stop constantly, but Robert never complained. He even lightened the mood with jokes and flirts which made her feel better. When night came they stopped under a large tree and she relaxed while leaning against him, his arm wrapped around her. She tucked herself under his coat and told him about her friends back in the Brotherhood.

"I'm not going to lie, I'm kind of surprised that you're so close to someone like Reagan," he breathed. "I mean, I get Merrin, she seems nice and all, but Reagan… is a bit…" he looked for the right words.

"She's pretty badass," Madelyn sighed and closed her eyes. "She was so fun to have around. She never took shit from anyone. Specially Rhys, and Rhys loves giving people shit."

"Yeah, I've heard," he grunted and looked down at her.

"He's not good enough for Reagan," the squire sighed. "Danse was, though, I could never see her with anyone but him."

"I don't think she could either," MacCready added and leaned his head back against the tree, remembering the conversation he'd had with the knight.

"They would have had the cutest babies…" Madelyn said suddenly.

"Synths can have kids?" his brows pulled together.

"I don't see why not," she frowned. "They're human with the exception of the chip in their head, right? You can't even tell if someone is a synth unless you kill them, so…" she shifted against him in thought. "If they didn't have the ability to bare children, don't you think that might be a pretty good test to know if you were one or not?"

"Oh…" he blinked, his breath leaving him slowly. "I never… thought of that."

She shrugged. Her brows frowned a little and she got lost in her thoughts. "I… don't know why I love the Brotherhood."

MacCready went stiff, "What?"

"We… we hate so much…" she blinked away a few tears and ran the back of her hand under her eyes. "I… we turned on Danse because he was a synth? But he'd… he'd joined us, been with us for years… I watched him grow up, get promoted. He was…" she shook her head. "Reagan was there when he joined –she was born into the Brotherhood– and she told me about the day she first saw him." Madelyn shook her head. "He… he never would have done anything against us and we just… sentenced him to death."

The sniper's jaw was set, he didn't think she needed his two caps worth so he let her continue.

"What if I'm a synth? Arthur was so close with Danse… and he just…. Would he do the same to me? I'm like his little sister, he's told me so. He told me he loved me, and he'd never let anything bad happen to me, but would that all go out the window just because I have a chip in my head?"

"Madelyn," Robert's arms around her tightened and he kissed her hat. "Stop, he wouldn't hurt you."

"How do you know?" She gazed up at him with teary grey eyes, dark in the night light.

"Because, you're more than his friend. Danse was a friend, and he was a high-ranking official. He felt betrayed. You… you're different. You're a girl he saved and he's helped you, watched you grow up, taken care of you. You and him are closer than he could have ever been with Danse. It would be different with you." He shook his head.

"What about you? What if I was a synth?"

"I don't care, love, you know that," he frowned and ran his thumb over her cheek to wipe away her tear.

"I wish more of the Brotherhood was like Nate. Hancock isn't bad," she sighed and looked down at her hands. "I wish Arthur was more like Nate."

"Maybe you can make him," Robert offered. She looked up and lifted an eyebrow. "You're the closest thing to family the guy has, right? You probably are the only one that could change his mind on a subject. You could be the one to get him to chill out, relax his steel grip…."

She snorted humorlessly, "He'd just throw up his walls and tell me he has to do it for the Brotherhood. He can't make exceptions because then he'd lose respect."

"Then show him how many people would respect him more," the sniper tilted his head and she blinked.

"Since Danse there has been a lot of…" she frowned and bit her lip. "I… I need to sleep," she decided and he nodded, resting his cheek on her head.

"Go to sleep, I'll keep watch."

"Will you wake me up so you can sleep some?"

"Maybe, don't worry about it," he smiled and she sighed.

Rick sat at Maxson's table in his personal quarters, his feet kicked up on the surface and crossed. Madelyn stood in the doorway, gaping at him before she realized he had a bull-barreled .44 pointed right at Arthur who was sitting on his bed, glaring at the other man.

"What're you doing?" Madelyn gasped and stepped inside. The door snapped shut behind her, she resisted looking at it, knowing it was locked and she now was forced to stay in this room with Rick and Arthur.

"Miss me? It's been a few days," he commented and tilted his head his black curls shifting into his icy eyes. "Was starting to think you forgot about me."

She gritted her teeth and her fingers pulled up fists. "What. Are. You. Doing?"

"Oh, someone's getting' feisty," he grinned and dropped his feet, but kept the gun trained on the Elder of the Brotherhood. "I'm trying to help you, Maddy."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, come on, you knew the moment you saw me I was familiar."

"What are you talking about?" her brows pulled down and she glared at him.

"Maddy he's–" Arthur started, and Rick shot him, the bullet hitting him in the shoulder.

"I told you, Maxy, not to speak," he growled and then looked at Madelyn who was gaping at Arthur holding his wound. His face was twisted in pain and anger, and he swore a few times. "Now, Maddy, this is your dream, so come on, figure this out."

"I don't understand," she cried, looking back at Rick.

He sighed and stood up, coming toward her. "Look at me, tell me; I look familiar, yes?"

Her jaw set. Of course he looked familiar, how many times had she seen him now? She wet her lips. "I don't…"

His jaw clenched: his disappointment was apparent. "What about now?" he asked and spun around quickly. As he did the 360 he changed. He wasn't wearing the blue coat and black scarf anymore, instead he wore an orange Brotherhood uniform.

"You're… Brotherhood?" she gasped at him.

"Better than that," he gave her his killer smile and she recognized it now with the orange flight suit. It was the Glass smirk. A family of famous lancers. She was sort of friends with Michael Glass, the bastard son of Victor Glass. She didn't know his legitimate sons but by name, Jacob –who had come with Michael with the Prydwen over two years ago and had gone MIA when his vertibird was shot down– and Robert –who was only ten and a squire, but had also come with the Prydwen. Victor Glass always preferred Jacob of his three sons. And everyone knew it, especially Michael who was the same age and just as successful as his half brother.

Madelyn had only seen Jacob in person once when he and Reagan had been forced into an engagement by their Lancer-Captain fathers. Victor wanted Jacob to have the best wife possible, and William Knight's daughter was the obvious choice. Reagan had been pissed and upset as she was under Danse's command at the time, and had strong feelings for her CO, but that didn't matter to the Lancer-Captains. Their engagement had ended suddenly, though, when William and Danse had both beaten the young Lancer-Sergeant for reasons that were never disclosed. Reagan told Merrin, everyone else was on need to know, which meant Madelyn didn't know.

She felt her heart hammer in her chest. Rick was Lancer-Sergeant Jacob Glass. "You… you're MIA."

"Missing in Action," he nodded, and tapped the barrel of the gun to his temple. "Not dead, though. Not like everyone wishes."

"No one wishes for you to be dead," she breathed.

"That's not true and you know it," he smirked at her.

Her brows tugged together. Okay, sure, a lot of people hated the Glass family, but that was because they were all dicks, even Michael was a pretty big dick, and she considered him a friend sometimes. But Jacob had been loved an adored. "Why are you doing this? Why didn't you ever come back to the Prydwen if you're alive?"

He shook his head, "This is your dream, Maddy, I only know what you know."

She felt her jaw clench. "Then… why are you here?"

"So I can help, I told you, I'm here to help you," he sighed and came to stand in front of her, looking down at her with the stunning blue eyes that his father had given him. "You know how criminal master minds work, you've read all those books in Maxy's office," he smirked.

"You want to be caught."

"Bingo," he poked her nose and she wrinkled it in response. "I knew you'd get it."

"Where are Nate and Hancock?"

"You know what's happened to them," he sighed, his shoulders relaxing at her.

"You've taken them."

"Well," he tilted his head back and forth. "Maybe, but you should be waking up soon, shouldn't you? Tell Mac who I am and all that, I'm sure he'll appreciate it," he glanced over his shoulder at Maxson sitting on the bed, his shoulder still bleeding. "You know you'll have to go to the Prydwen," he tilted his head at her.

"I… I can't, not yet, I'm not ready," she breathed and Jacob glared at her.

"You're willing to risk Nate's life for you to get promoted?"

"No," she breathed, her bows pulling together defensively.

"Then you get your little ass on that air ship and you tell Maxy who the fuck I am, Madelyn. Christ." He tossed the gun onto the table behind him and grabbed her shoulders. "Wake up, Madelyn."

"Okay, stop touching me," she tried to squirm. There was a loud humming and wind started to smack her face. The papers in the room started swirling and some things fell to the floor with the force of the gust.

"Wake up, love," Jacob shook her again.

"Don't call me that," she growled at him and tried to slap him, but her hands were pinned to her side.

"Wake up!" Robert's voice echoed in her ears and she snapped awake.

"Madelyn," Robert held her cheek and she gasped. Blinking as dirt and dust swirled around them.

A vertibird was landing near by. Her heart hammered in her chest, oh no, no no no no no…. She stood up, ignoring the sniper as he asked her something. It was just passed sunrise. The sun was barely over the cityscape.

How could they have found her? She wasn't even in her uniform, and they didn't know MacCready…

"Madelyn, do you know these men?" Robert tilted her face to look at him. She blinked and her brows pulled together. He pointed to a very large man in a strange red and black flight suit. Her face twisted further when she saw the men on either side of him standing at attention wearing the same flight suits. They looked Brotherhood, but she didn't know them, they didn't look the least bit familiar. The one in front was the highest ranking, obviously, but he was some years younger than the other two. He looked sort of like Maxson, but with a short, close trimmed beard and thinner brows. His nose was freckled and broken, shoved so far to the left it was painfully obvious he was never going to be able to straighten it.

The man behind him and to his left –closer to Madelyn and Robert– was very… very tall, nearly six inches over six feet. He was blonde with the same hair cut as his CO and Maxson, with a softer dusting of facial hair on his narrow, pointed jaw. His nose was long with a deep hook in it. His eyes were nearly black in color, she could tell despite his distance from her. He, honestly, was the less terrifying of the three, and even glanced at her long enough for her to see the severe burn scar down the right side of his face.

The last one was the roughest. He was a little shorter than the young man in front of him, but he was just as big as him, with plenty of scars running down and across his face. His blue eyes rivaled Nate's in how pale they were, but the thick, brown bars above them heavily shaded them.

"I… I don't know them," she said and fear flooded through her. She'd seen different colored flight suits, but never that combination, and these men were far more intimidating that anyone she'd seen on the Prydwen.

"Squire Dangerfield, your Elder has requested your presence, he is very disappointed in you," the man in front said, turning to her now. His brows pulled together and she frowned.

"Who are you?"

"I am Inquisitor Dangerfield," he said easily and she felt her heart skip a beat.

"Wha…? You're a…?" She didn't know if it was the rank or the name that caught her more off guard.

"I am of the Midwest Brotherhood of Steel," he explained. Madelyn's eyebrows leapt up and she looked at the other two men. She'd heard a little about their lost brothers and sisters, the faction was pretty detached from the coasts. She never expected to meet someone from the Midwest.

"Why're you here?"

"I was sent to retrieve you."

"Why you?" She followed him as he ignored her and headed toward the vertibird. The two men behind her climbed in first and he waited, glancing back at her with steel eyes.

"I volunteered. Your Elder is busy planning for our voyage to the Great Waste, and I had nothing better to do." He waved for her to get onto the bird. She glanced at it and then back at MacCready who was frowning deeply behind her.

"Nothing better to do?" she wasn't sure if that should offend her, then she blinked. "Voyage to where?"

"The Great Waste, the Midwest," he clarified and then motioned again. "I guaranteed your arrival in an hour, squire."

"How'd you find me?" she frowned.

"Do not make me order you to get on this vertibird, squire," his voice was deep and low. The Inquisitor's eyebrows pulled together and her gaze flickered to the men already buckled in. The blonde was frowning at her as if he were wishing she would just get in while the other was tilting his head back against the headrest looking like he wanted to sleep.

"I can't go, I have to–"

"Enough," Dangerfield stepped forward and picked her up easily, setting her on the bird before MacCready could blink. Then he climbed in and pushed her gently into a chair and fastened her in.

"Madelyn!"

The vertibird lifted off as the sniper leapt forward, the gust sending him back. He hit the ground hard and glared up at the steel bird.

Madelyn's stare was hard as she looked at the Inquisitor who grabbed onto the straps hanging from the ceiling. "Why the hell did you do that?" she snapped at him.

"I have orders. Bring you back alive, anything it takes." That sounded like something that Maxson would say.

"So you had to pick me up?" she growled.

"Better'an hurtin' ya, squire," the blonde at her side said softly with a very heavy accent. She glared at him. He was giving her a soft expression, though and she couldn't continue to look at him with so much anger.

"Hate me all you want, young Dangerfield," the Inquisitor said, his voice just loud enough she could hear it over the whirl of the vertibird. "But I am only following your Elder's orders, something that you have neglected to do, which has gotten you into this situation."

He was right, and she hated him more for it.

"Thank you, Inquisitor Dangerfield," Maxson sighed and Madelyn stared at his boots.

"Of course, Elder."

"You're dismissed."

"Ad Victoriam, sir." She could hear the three men snap into a salute behind her before leaving. Madelyn glanced over her shoulder to see them head up to the next deck, probably to get food. When they were gone, she was standing alone with Maxson on the Command Deck. Outside a radiation storm was rolling through, the thick green clouds making it impossible to see out the windows.

Neither said anything for a long time, and Madelyn found it hard to look anywhere other than at his boots. He was standing maybe ten feet in front of her. Her heart hammered in her chest and she resisted rubbing her forehead. He seemed like he was trying to slow his breathing.

"I cannot express to you how disappointed you have made me, Madelyn."

There it was. Her heart fell to the ground and she glanced up to see his face. Maxson was only twenty-one, nearly twenty-two now, but he looked in his late thirties. Stress had creased him beyond repair when he had anything other than a smile on his face, and he almost never smiled. Even with how close they were she wasn't able to make him laugh as much as she could her other friends. Now his heavy brows cast his blue-grey eyes into shadow, darkening them, keeping her from being able to read them. His nose was wrinkled in anger, scrunching the space between the brows and the bridge below it. His pout lips, hidden in a thick, off-black beard were curved down, finalizing the expression.

She felt the threat of tears in her eyes, but she fought them. There was still hope for her plan to work despite this. "I just wanted you to see I could do it," her voice was soft, but determined.

His jaw set and she could almost hear his teeth grind together. "So you thought you would show me how great a knight you could be by blatantly disobeying my orders? Lying to not only me, but to Lancer-Captain Kells, and every other member of the Brotherhood of Steel? Your presence here is a lie, so do not say that you have not lied to us all."

She swallowed. She'd never been yelled at by him before, not like he did other soldiers. He always spoke to her differently, but now, she felt like any other soldier standing in front of Elder Maxson as he ripped them a new one. There was nothing she could say or do to defend herself because his words were true. She had stunk onto the Prydwen, and came with it to the Commonwealth, spent the last year and a half lying right to the faces of anyone and everyone she could to reach her end goal.

How had she thought she could prove she would make a good soldier by lying and disobeying him? She couldn't believe herself.

Madelyn's head hung and she pressed her hands into her face. "I…" she shook her head. "I can't express how painful this was, Arthur," she breathed and met his gaze.

He frowned deeper at her. "Is that so? It was painful to sneak into my quarters and send Kells messages? It was painful to lie to Sentinel Walker and convince him it was my orders for him to mentor you? It was painful to discard your uniform, dye your hair, and run around with a mercenary?" His voice rose until he was standing in front of her, close, holding her arms so that she had to keep looking right up at him.

Her heart hurt so bad. "Yes, yes it hurt."

"I can't believe you, Madelyn. Do you understand how I feel? When Kells told me that he got Nate's first report on your progress last night? He was so confused as to how I didn't know you were in the Commonwealth because I was the one who gave him the orders you were to be with Sentinel Walker!" His voice shook her to her core. It wasn't even that loud, it was just so deep, it vibrated her, stung her ears. She shuddered and tears streamed down her cheeks as she stared at him in horror. Then she saw his face twist from anger to sorrow, "Do you understand how scared I was that something might have happened to you?"

Arthur's hands on her arms softened and she let out a long breath as he looked down at her with wet blue eyes. She'd seen him cry before, but never like this. "I'm so sorry, Artie," she breathed and reached up to wipe away the tear. He was so much bigger than her she had to stretch up.

"I cannot believe you would do this, Madelyn. I've been writing you… how…?" his breathing was uneven and she frowned.

"I convinced Merrin to write you so you wouldn't know I was here," she explained.

He shook his head as if he should have known. "So she knew."

"And… Reagan…" Madelyn's lips twitched and his eyes narrowed at her.

"Of course Reagan knew."

Madelyn let herself smile a little bit and wrapped her arms around Arthur. "I've waited so long to hug you. It hurt so bad being so close without being able to even look at you."

He squeezed her and sighed. "I am mildly impressed you were able to pull this off for so long." She smiled and looked up at him, then he smirked at her and she felt a new fear. "Despite that you're grounded."

"What?! But you can't! There's a problem in the Commonwealth, settlers are going missing," she explained and pulled away form him.

"I am fully aware, and Sentinel Walker and his Minutemen have been working on that."

"He's missing," she breathed, and then they both blinked. "Wait, you… said he gave his first report last night?" Maxson's brows pulled together and her heart hammered. "I… I don't think it was Nate who sent in that report, Arthur."

Some of you may be wondering 'Why are there Midwest Brotherhood soldiers?' 'What are they doing here?' 'Why is the East Coast Brotherhood planning on going west?'

WELL. Those are excellent questions.

It is also another story. (Reagan's to be exact, and I will begin posting that one when I wrap this one up! Hope it's caught your interest by now, I know I keep bringing it up, but my mind is made up.)