A/N: What the hell am i thinking? Oh wait, i'm not thinking at all.... i seriously need to change my life around.... or else i won't be able to graduate properly.... bah, what the hell.

She had to think fast. This woman, whoever she is, is looking for her. She had her fair share of enemies wanting to have her head blown into bits, and even if this person is a vault dweller, not knowing from which vault is dangerous. Could this woman be an assassin? It was hard to tell. For now, it would best to just get to the GNR to meet up with Sarah.

"Er... yeah, i know of the lone wanderer."

Well, in more ways than one, yes. She isn't lying, after all she is the fabled lone wanderer. The young woman's eyes lit up almost at once.

"Really? Can you tell me where he is?"

"Er.... i'm currently busy at the moment, so this would have to wait."

The woman's sudden vigour disappeared like a puff of smoke, her shoulder drooping down like a sad dog. It reminded her of Dogmeat. And with that kind of stance, it was hard for her to resist.

"... You can come along."

"Huh?"

"It would be easier to search if you went with somebody who knows the wastelands, right?"

The woman now lit up once more. The woman grabbed her arms and shook them profusely.

"Thank you! You're a very kind person! As expected, we vault dwellers must stick together!"

"Er... yeah, right. So, you know how to handle a gun?"

Although she didn't really need to ask, seeing how this woman dealt with all of these ghouls, but it was more to check her equipments. The woman took out a rather large pistol that looked like it could take out a ghoul just by using its sheer mass. She had two shotguns, a pump action in a holster strapped to her back and a sawed-off in a holster on her hip, and she had a hunting rifle with a scope attached slung around her arm. She had quite the collection.

"Hmm... alright... let's go."

She walked over to her bike, swining her leg over and starting its engine. The woman looked at the bike curiously, before taking a seat behind her.

"The name's Summers. Ashely Summers."

She extended a hand to the woman, who took it with a smile.

"Reds. Claire Reds."

"Claire... alright, hang on tight."

She did not even wait for Claire to reply as she gunned it, burning the tires into the ground and speeding off. Claire had good reflexes though, as she managed to wrap her arms around Ashely's waist before the latter sent the machine roaring off. Maybe to Claire, who had never ridden on a bike before, Ashely was going too fast, but to the vault kid, it was a sense of exhileration.

Feeling the wind rushing past her was like jet to junkies. It was simply irresistable. At her speed, she reached the next station in almost no time. She drove up a ramp to the platform, and pulled on the brakes. She checked her location on her pip-boy, and found that they were under the GNR. And it didn't sound like it was all too peaceful above ground.

"What's happening?"

Claire wondered out loud. Normally, Ashely wouldn't ask such a question. The answer was always plain and simple. A battle was occuring above ground. She checked her pistol and assault rifle, placing them in a position which would allow her to draw them quickly. She then drove the bike up the stairs, and going pass the ticket barrier without a break. As she neared the gate at the subway's entrance, she pulled out her pistol, firing a few shots at the lock. The shots hit their mark, and the lock shattered, allowing her bike to ram through the gate easily.

Once the bike hit the stairs, she pushed it to its max, sending the bike flying out of the subway, into a battle zone right outside the GNR. However, it wasn't Super Mutants who were invading the GNR. No. She knew those people. Their black armour was clearly unmistakenable. Enclave troops. And they brought their robot toys with them. The Brotherhood who were stationed at the GNR were hiding behind their make-shift bunkers, firing whenever they had a chance. She spotted the car, with Cross and Fawkes taking cover behind it and firing at the enemy as much as they were allowed to.

Well, now the battle was going to shift. She pulled the throttle, drawing her assault rifle as she headed straight for the Enclave line. The Enclave did not notice her till was too late, as her first target's helmet splintered and shattered with a hail of bullets. She drove through their defensive line, and heard a shotgun fire behind her. An Enclave troop fell shortly after with his head missing.

"You should warn me if you're going to charge straight into the enemy lines."

Claire grumbled, twirling her shotgun in her hand. Her shotgun gave a satisfying click as it reloaded, and Claire took aim, firing nearly right after she reloaded.

"I'll take care of the back. You deal with the front."

Claire swung her legs in one swift motion, and now she had her back against Ashely's. She fired another shot into another Enclave soldier, and drew her pistol and fired to her right without looking directly at the Enclave officer who wanted to shoot at her, but instead now had a hole in his chest. As for Ashely, she emptied her clip into an Enclave shock troop, who wore the special Tesla armour, and ejected the empty magazine. Using only one hand to steer as she tossed her rifle into the air, and catching its barrel, swinging the arm guard into the face of another Enclave troop as she sped past.

She swung the rifle to the side of her bike, where she had set extra clips to allow easy reload. The clip clicked into the rifle, and she tossed the rifle into the air, catching the handle and taking aim at her target, firing a burst of bullets into his armour. She caught a glint in the corner of her eye, and swerved just in time as a laser shot from one of the Enclave's mechanical troops came flying their way. She steadied her aim and fired a burst into the head of the robot. Circuits began to fry, but it was still operational. But at least it lost its targetting system.

"Claire! Drive!"

"What?!"

Before the other woman could say another word, Ashely jumped on top of the seat of the bike, and jumped off the bike into the air. Claire quickly swung her legs over and took control, if wobbling about was considered control. At least Claire managed to avoid getting hit. Ashely flipped through the air, firing shots whenever she could, before she landed on the ground. She rolled on the ground at the moment of impact to avoid pulverizing her bones, and when she rolled to her feet, she readied her rifle, and drew a switch knife from her boot.

Her eyes fell onto the robot who lost its head. She started off into a sprint, firing shots into Enclaves who appeared left and right, trying to stop her. At a few inches before the broken machine, she jumped over the robot, landing safely behind it. She turned and faced what sat on the machine's back. It's weapons system. Using her knife, she stabbed the cover of the circuit, and sparks flew.

The robot gave a high pitch sound, before its insides exploded, and smoke came flying from its body. A whistling sound echoed the battlefield, and the Enclave troops began to pull back. Claire drove the bike up to Ashely, but she couldn't control it too well when it stopped, and the bike dropped onto its side while Claire jumped out of harm's way.

"Er... sorry."

"No, it's my fault for getting you to drive it when you haven't driven before."

Ashely lifted the bike off its side, though she was already straining her muscles to do so. She didn't have much strength in the first place, so even getting this bike off its side was like moving a mountain for her.

"Yes, you handled it pretty well."

Ashely smiled, slotting her weapons back into its proper places. Pistol to her hip, rifle to the bike, knife to her boot.

"Ha ha, thanks, but i'm not doing that again."

"Fair enough."

"ASH!"

The two women turned as a group of heavily armed Brotherhood Knights came their way, led by one rather angry blonde woman.

"Hey, Sarah."

Ashely waved a little, till the sentinel reached Ashely, and started to shout and fume at the woman.

"You were being reckless again! What did i tell you?!"

"Er.... I don't think that counted as-"

"I don't care! What, you think anyone would just jumped around on their bikes, charging straight through enemy lines, flipping off enemies, stabbing them in close range?!"

"Erm...."

While Sarah continued to shout and nag at Ashely for not being more careful, Cross and Fawkes walked up to Claire, who was having her arm treated by a Brotherhood medic. Though it was just a scratch, the medic insisted that it be treated.

"Thanks for the help. We're friends with Summers."

Cross extended her hand to Claire, who looked at the armoured hand for a moment, before shaking it.

"Claire. Claire Reds. I met Ashely in the tunnels, though more like saved her before she was attacked by ghouls."

At that, Cross and Fawkes looked to each other awkwardly.

"Ghouls? Ashely would never have problems with them."

"Oh, she said she was taking medication or something."

"Medication.... oh, that one."

Cross nodded as she understood the situation.

"So, why would Summers ask you to come along?"

"I'm searching for my brother, and Ashely said she would help me look."

"A brother? Hmm, i guess Summers must have felt your pain."

"Pain?"

Claire looked up at that, unsure of what the paladin meant.

"Summers suffered a lost as well, her father went missing once, and shortly after she found him, he.... he died."

".... I see. Maybe i shouldn't have asked."

"It would have come out sooner or later. Besides, almost everyone in the wastelands knows about it. She is after our savior."

"Wait... savior?"

"Yes. If you tune into the GNR, you can hear all of her exploits, though how that man gets his hands on those information is beyond me. Just listen out for 'lone wanderer', or 'vault kid'. Three dog needs to call her by her name, yet he simply can't. I swear, that man has no tact, or brains for anything."

Claire stared at Cross, her mind processing what the paladin had just said.

"Wait a minute.... the 'lone wanderer'? You mean, Ashely is-"

"Hm? Yes. Ashely Summers is the 'lone wanderer', savior of the capital wastelands. Didn't you know?"

After Sarah's long lecture, to which Ashely had mentally blocked out most of, the group fell back into the GNR, pulling in the bodies and remains of ally and foe alike. Allies were give a quiet prayer, before being stripped bare. The bodies of the Enclave were more harshly treated, violently stripped bare, weapons taken, and anything of value stolen. Everything was to be used for the Brotherhood. Plasma weapons were something that the Brotherhood had been trying to duplicate, but to no avail.

So the Enclave still held the upper hand in technology. Ashely sighed, allowing herself to fall onto the hard matress of the bed in one of the extra rooms. Her ears were hurting from Sarah's non-stop speech on how she should take better care of her body and such. And if weren't for one of the Paladin's interruption, Sarah would have be still going on. A gentle knock on the door made her turn, and seeing who stood at the doorway, she smiled.

"You're lookin' down girl. Sarah bit a huge one outa you, huh?"

The dark skinned disc jockey of GNR stepped into the room, carrying two cups of smoking coffee, to which he passed one to the savior of the capital. Ashely thanked Three-dog, and sipped the coffee quietly. It's warm savoury liquid flowing down her throat made her feel much better. Three-dog pulled out a chair, sitting with his leg crossed facing her. His eyes studied the frail girl before him from behind those dark shades.

It felt like just yesturday to him, that she came in for the first time, looking lost, confused about a lot of things. But she was smart, like her father, and even without him telling her where her father went, she picked up James's trail almost immediately after leaving. Yet she still came back to help with his request. Of course, back then she already had enough knowledge of the wastelands to keep herself alive, but now as he looked at her, he had to wonder if it was really such a good thing.

She had a wearied face in place of her enthusiastic and curious look she held before, eyes that held so much life and brilliance now held nothing but pain and sorrow, her body had scars from all of her hard fought battles, it was hard to imagine that this woman was the same one who came in before. People change, and Three-dog knew that well. Yet it was somewhat disheartening to see her youthful and vibrant spirit be dulled by the harsh realities of the wastelands.

"... You're awefully quiet."

Her words broke his train of thought. Maybe he had been looking at her too intently and that she noticed. He leaned back in the chair, taking a large gulp of his coffee.

"You know kid, a lot of people have sent their thanks for you. You've done a lot for us in the capital. Don't you think you should give it a rest?"

She looked at Three-dog with a perculiar look on her face. It was hard to think what was going through her mind at that point, then she sighed, looking into her drink.

"Maybe.... maybe i should rest from adventuring and fighting. Yet it somehow doesn't seem right. Not when so many people still need my help. I can't turn away from them. And what my father had built, if i do not stand by and protect it, then what would happen?"

"Kid..."

"I know what you're saying, Three-dog. Madison and Sarah were saying the same things.... wanting me to rest, to let others do the work. But i somehow can't do that. I can't sit back and see others do what i should be doing."

She bit her lip, unsure of what she was saying anymore. Everything came out from her heart, but her ever-calculating mind could not comprehend what she was trying to put across. Yet Three-dog understood.

"Because the capital sees you as its savior, you feel the need to fulfill the expectations that people have placed upon you. Right? Let's not forget about how you wish to treasure the one thing James had worked so hard for. But take a step back for the moment. Does being perfect actually mean anything in this wasteland? Do you understand what you really need to do as a person? As Ashely Summers? Not as a savior, not as a vault kid, not as a hero. As a human being, do you know in your heart what it takes to live life?"

Ashely stayed silent, unsure of how to answer. But she knew that she would never have an answer to that. Her life had always been dictated by something, by someone, by expectations. In the vault, she followed rules and regulation. She followed her father's words, and the overseer's. When she came out, she wandered about aimlessly, feverishly looking for clues on her father.

When her father died, she lived for revenge, and a chance to complete her father's dream. And now? Now she had to find the remaining Enclave bases, and the source of the Super Mutants. But that did not mean living her life. Was that all to her life? Fighting? Nothing but fighting.

"I-.... i don't know...."

She finally muttered those words that she dread so much to say. She hated not knowing. It was like when she first stepped out from the vault. Everything was so open, so vast, and yet it held no immediate answers. It was like drowning in her own worries. Suffocating because there was nothing there. She gripped her chest, feeling a dull pain growing. She had never wanted to feel so helpless. Fighting had always seem to take it off. Because whenever she fought, she only had to think about the enemy and her own survival. Nothing more, nothing less. But that wasn't living. No one can live off fighting all of the time.

What would happen if all of this were to end? That thought scared her. What frightened her even more was the fact that she was afraid of peace. She realized what she had become. A beast hungry for battle. Three-dog felt like he said too much. Savior she may be, but she is still a simple girl who lost her father. Frail and easily broken, yet the world can never see just how frail her shoulders are as they pile on more of their hopes, dreams and expectations, till she can carry no more. He wouldn't want to see such an end. He stood up, shifting his shades further up the bridge of his nose.

"There is not need for some to know the answer immediately. Sometimes, it is only when they are doing it, that they realize that that is what their life is worth. Don't worry, you'll find it eventually. For now, just rest."

With that, the normally loud-mouthed disc jockey left her to her own thoughts. Ashely stared into her cup, looking at her own reflection from the cup's contents. She had changed so much from the time she left the vault. So much that she didn't know if she was looking at the same person. What she had wanted to do, it made her become, and now what it had left her with. Her ears perked at the sound of footsteps that stopped at her door.

"... Ashely? Can we talk?"

She looked up, seeing Claire standing there looking rather nervous about something. She placed her cup down on the table by the bed, deciding that drinking coffee was something she didn't need at the moment, before gesturing for Claire to enter.

"What do you want to talk about?"

She asked after Claire stepped inside the room, but did not take a seat. She did notice that Claire was figiting with her fingers. Was there something that this woman was unsure about?

"I.... i heard that you were the 'lone wanderer'."

Oh, that. She sighed, rubbing her temples with her hand. That title was one that the people simply placed upon her. Well, maybe it was more of Three-dog's influence.

"So you heard. And? I've already decided to help you with your search. Is there anything else you wanted to ask?"

".... Not really."

She studied Claire for a moment, before she reached into her pocket and pulled out a bloodied piece of paper. The vault map she found from the body bag at the mutant barricade. She threw the paper at Claire, who caught it and looked at it.

"Look familiar?"

"... Yes, this is a map of my vault, but how-"

"I found it on a corpse. It means that whatever happened to your vault, it's leading a lot of people to their deaths. It just so happened that i'm searching for Enclave bases and possible Mutant nesting grounds. Your vault may have clues to either, or both."

Claire seemed to understand everything she just said.

"Enclave? You mean those guys in black armour?"

"Yes."

"And you believe the Enclave may be connected to my vault? How?"

"The vaults were built by the previous government power in this country. However, after losing their standings, the government became known as the 'Enclave'. The vaults were experiments created to test and see different the outcome scenarios and situations. If your vault wasn't listed in the vault-tec database, then there must be something the Enclave must really want kept hidden within that vault."

"... I see. Well, i didn't notice anything awkward about my vault-"

"No one ever does. Yet it is there."

She felt her patience wearing thin, but kept her composure. Claire obviously hasn't been out in the wastelands long enough to know this much. But maybe it was just her curiousity that led her to find out so much.

"My vault was designed to test long term isolation, yet because of my father, the experiment failed. Another vault had been completely filled with clones of a single man, Gary. It is safe to say that that place won't be a very pleasant place to visit, even if any one of those clone still lives. Another vault was designed to test sleep hypnosis, and one was the actual breeding grounds for the super mutants in the capital wastelands. Every single vault as a key aspect to it. Yours does too."

Claire kept silent, unsure of what to say. Well, it is a lot to have these facts suddenly come up to your face. Ashely silent cursed herself for feeling so irritated and taking it out on Claire. Claire was missing her brother, not wanting an explaination for why the world was so twisted and warped. Yet she found out when she searched for her father. She sighed, shaking her head to clear her thoughts.

"Look, we need to do things one at a time. Get some rest for now. We'll move out at night."

A/N: It is hard to put a mental and emotional weakness into a character who is designed to be strong and toughened by the trials of the wastelands.... but i had to throw something in. Don't blame me for being random. Oh and brownie points for those who can guess who the new character is based off. You deserve gaming nerd award.