Renewing a Nation

A Fallout 3 Fanfiction

Quest Added: Rebuild the Nation

Disclaimer: I don't own any aspect of Fallout or its affiliates.

Summary: With his conquests of the Capital Wasteland coming to an end, the Lone Wanderer (Daniel) had decided to settle down in any way he can in his 'luxury' apartment in Megaton. He is quickly called out of retirement by the Brotherhood of Steel to aid in the mass reconstruction effort for the Wasteland. Follows a very high karma Lone Wanderer. Romance: Lone Wanderer/Sarah Lyons.

Description of the Lone Wanderer (Daniel): Blonde hair. Blue eyes. Tan complexion. Small wave hair style.

Note from the Author: Thanks to everyone for their interest in my story! Lots of story alerts and favorite author adds! Thanks! A super special thanks for the two people that left a review. I don't want to sound ungrateful, but if you folks are going to add me as a favorite author, add as a favorite story, story alert, etc., leave a review and tell me WHY you like/dislike this story! Let me know what you want to SEE in this story! If I get a good request for something I feel as though I can fit into the story, I will…and I'll give you public credit for it! Please…be one of the few…and review!

Chapter 2

The Lone Wanderer of Vault 101 awoke around 4 that morning. Groggily, he made his way up the stairs and splashed cold, un-irradiated water on his face, and in the process giving himself somewhat of a sponge bath as it was too hazardous to take a real bath. He pulled on one of his clean white shirts, pulled on his blue slacks and black shoes. Lastly, he put on his brand new officer's jacket, donned with his medals. Just as he put on his officer's hat, he heard Dogmeat whimpering in the corner. "What's the matter, boy? I'll only be gone for a little while." He said kneeling down to Dogmeat's level. Dogmeat whimpered and licked Daniel's cheek. Daniel suddenly felt really bad for poor Dogmeat. "Oh alright, you can go." He said patting Dogmeat's head. The very intelligent canine caught on really quick and began to stand up and wag his tail. The Lone Wanderer strapped his trusty officer's pistol he got off the dead body of the alien captain that was so bold as to abduct him to his belt, grabbed his trusty Blackwater rifle and slung it across his shoulder, and picked up his suitcase. Together, Head Paladin Daniel and his trusty sidekick, Dogmeat started out on the four hour walk that was the journey to the Citadel.

Daniel enjoyed this time of morning. The sun wasn't quite up but there was enough daylight to make navigating possible. It was also much cooler. Daniel also found Dogmeat as a wonderful person to talk to as he traveled. Dogmeat was always a good listener. "You know what, pal? I was crazy in love
with Amata, did you know that? Yep, I sure was. It almost killed me when I had to leave the vault without her for the first time. But the second time…right after I started the Purifier and found you at the Scrapyard…she called me back. I thought, 'this is my chance!' I can finally tell her how I feel about her. But she just asked me to convince the Overseer to step down. Even though I convince him to step down to prevent a violent coup, Amata banished me! She banished me from my very own home! I told her I loved her and I even wept in front of her. Even though she had teardrops running down her pretty little cheek, she held firm. She told me that deep down, she felt something for me too. How could she love me if she banished me from my own home? That's not love, is it Dogmeat?" Daniel asked his companion. Dogmeat remained silent as they walked. "I know…I'm just as confused."

"But then I met Sarah Lyons. Beautiful, strong, smart, and kind! It's so hard to find kind people out here! The look she gave me when I told her I would activate the purifier…she looked at me so differently…like she was astonished that I would do such a thing. Just before I went inside the chamber…I took her hand into mine and I looked her dead square in the eye. To this day I have no idea why I did it. But then just as the door shut, I saw two teardrops fall from her eyes…and to be honest Dogmeat, my heart broke in two." Daniel explained as he crossed the bridge over the Potomac.

Dogmeat growled. Daniel looked in the horizon to see a super mutant, feasting on the corpse of a raider. "Damn! I was for sure I cleared them out of this sector!" He said kneeling near a hollowed out car. He set his suitcase down and shouldered his rifle. He took steady aim and adjusted the ladder sights to 250 yards. He steadied himself and squeezed the trigger. The rifle jumped and bullet found its mark on the right side of the super mutant's head, making the body collapse and crumble to the ground. Daniel cocked the lever back, ejecting the spent round and chambering a new one. He then shouldered his rifle, picked up his suitcase and moved on.

He arrived at the Citadel around 11 that afternoon to be greeted by Gunny. "Paladin, sir!" He said saluting Daniel. Remembering he was now officially in uniform and on duty, he saluted in return and moved to the entrance to A-Cell. He entered and was greeted by Scribe Rothschild. "Welcome back, Paladin Daniel. We're all set for the meeting at noon, but let me show you to your chambers for the week." Scribe Rothschild said leading Daniel to his room. Daniel was very impressed. The room was very clean. And to make things so much nicer, the bed linens were clean! He set his suitcase down on his bed. "This is very nice, Scribe. Thank you." Daniel said with a smile. "Your other fellow Head Paladin wishes to see you. I'll take you to her." Rothschild said walking down the hall. Daniel's heart skipped a beat for some crazy reason. He then remembered Dogmeat. "Boy, go outside!" Daniel said smiling throwing him a treat from his pocket that the canine caught in mid air. He barked and scurried outside.

Scribe Rothschild let him down the hall to a room with a shut door. There was a sign on the door: Head Paladin Office – Paladin Lyons / Paladin Daniel. "I give you your office, sir." Scribe Rothschild said opening the door to reveal two desks and two file cabinets. Behind one of those desks was Sarah Lyons. "Daniel! You're here!" Sarah said sort of alarmed. "I am…and it's nice to see you too, Sarah." Scribe Rothschild silently made his leave, shutting the door behind them. "How are you, Sarah?" Daniel said sitting down behind the other unoccupied desk, decked out with a table lamp, typewriter, small radio, telephone, and an ashtray (not that he smoked). "I'm alright, I guess. Still a bit sore." Sarah said sitting down facing him. "Still? God you must have had one bad fall!" Daniel and Sarah chuckled. "You look very nice in that new uniform, Sarah." Daniel said nearly blushing. Sarah blushed, "Oh? I'd rather be wearing my armor." She smiled. "God no! I hate power armor. Too heavy and bulky…to be honest Sarah, I only wear it when I absolutely have to." Daniel pointed out. "Really? I honestly never would have guessed." She said surprised. "Yeah, at least now I get to see you without your armor!" Daniel laughed. Sarah blushed beet red and looked away from him. Daniel reeled in embarrassment. "Oh…no Sarah…I didn't mean it like that. You look just as pretty in your power armor as you…" He was cut off. "You think I'm pretty?" Sarah asked looking back up to face him. Daniel was at a loss for words…he had in a just a few seconds, dug his own grave. "Ah…yeah Sarah, you're very pretty" Daniel said turning a bit red. Sarah laughed to herself a bit. This man had almost single-handedly tamed a vast part of the Capital Wasteland. She believed that even though he was eleven years her junior, he was just as brave as her, and just as wise as her father. But here he is, stumbling over himself in front of her by saying she was pretty. No one is perfect.

"Come on, we it's almost meeting time." Sarah said standing up. Daniel stood up soon after and followed behind her to the Council room down the hall. As he walked behind her his eyes wandered to her rear end as she walked. 'Wow' he thought to himself, 'She is amazing under the suit!' 'God Daniel, knock it off! Grow up!' He said to himself as he entered the Council chambers.

The meeting came to order soon after, Elder Lyons presiding. Members present included Star Paladin Cross, Paladin Tristan, Scribe Rothschild, and Head Paladins Sarah Lyons and Lone Wanderer Daniel. "Members of the Council, it has come to a mutual agreement that the best course of action, being that the Enclave is all but extinct and the Capital Wasteland has been well explored, mapped, and documented by Head Paladin Daniel, that reconstruction must begin. Just as it did in the year 1865 after America's first Civil War, we must rebuild this once great nation. I ask you now, how will we go about it? What is the Council's wish?" Elder Lyons asked. "I would like to hear from Paladin Daniel. He has traveled the Wastes much more than any of us…and beyond! I heard over the radio he made it to Point Lookout. Let us hear from him." Paladin Cross said. "Here here." Said Paladin Tristan and Scribe Rothschild. "Tell us Daniel…what should we do?" Sarah said looking at him curiously.

"Well…from what I have encountered and heard from the people, they want only a few basic needs. They want security, they want reconstruction, and they want unity with other people. People shouldn't have to track down a trader that maybe stops by once a month to buy things. They should have the option to go out and buy food for their families, not hunt it themselves. Each and every person is put in harm's way every day. We need to address this." Daniel explained.

It shocked the Council how much he had thought about this. Even Sarah was wide eyed. "How do you propose we go about rebuilding?" Sarah asked curiously. "It's quite simple, Sarah. The people need a leader, someone to look up to, someone to have the final say in everything, someone who is knowledgeable and has good people skills." Daniel explained. "Someone like you." Elder Lyons said giving a smile. "Me? God no. I don't think I have what the people want in a leader." Daniel argued. "Bullshit! Three-Dog won't shut up about you, every wastelander that walks by me asks me if the Lone Wanderer is nearby! I swear their isn't a wastelander or super mutant that doesn't know your name." Paladin Cross retorted. "Here here!" Said Scribe Rothschild.

"This WILL come up later, Paladin Daniel." Elder Lyons said. "Let's move on. How do you propose we begin?" "Simple. We need labor." Daniel said. "We need to unite all the people in the wasteland into one single, protected, sanitary area. From there, all we have to do is convince people to work in construction and clearing debris so we can start from a clean slate. From what Sarah told me some time ago, the National Mint building has collapsed, however, rumor has it stockpiles of bills, coins, and their moulds are still there. If we can get those, get the mint running, we can restart the economy as well. From the reports I've read, the Midwestern Brotherhood has a tight guard on Fort Knox, so we know that the bills and coins won't be worthless." Daniel explained.

"But for now, we can't really pay people in bills; they have no place to use their money." Scribe Rothschild said. "True, think of that in the future. For now, we have to offer an initiative. If we can offer, a safe place to live, a roof over their heads, three hot meals a day, and clean water and sanitation? I'd be damned if I would pass up something for that. All we ask in exchange is that people contribute in the reconstruction whether it is reproducing textiles for clothing, creating a new pipe network to pump clean water into new areas, or rewiring our electric cables and restarting the power plant north of here. Everyone, in some way, can help." Daniel said quite brilliantly.

"Bravo! Very well said!" Sarah said with a smile. "I agree." Paladin Cross said. "What about physical reconstruction?" Asked Paladin Tristan. "That's going to be tricky. We need skilled laborers, and I don't think anyone has laid concrete in over a hundred years! I do know, however, that people still do skilled labor like this in the Vaults…I learned basic construction myself while living in Vault 101. If we can coax people out of the Vaults to help us teach others to build, we may have our answer to our problems." Daniel suggested. "I agree…but what about the physical environment? It's going to be tough to lure people out when its hazardous just to breathe, and what about the Potomac? It's still irradiated." Asked Elder Lyons.

"That's where I come in." Said Scribe Rothschild speaking up. "I've been working on a project for the past 25 years on my own personal time. If I can get the thing running, It can actually filter the radiation out of the air within a certain radius in a matter of about a week. Give me another month dedicated to this, and I can see to it that the Vault dwellers will have clean air to breathe." The scribe said smugly.

"Excellent!" Said Elder Lyons. "And what about the river?"

"I bet if we can control the flow of irradiated water we can navigate a waterway so that the Potomac is completely out of contact with infected water. If we do drain part of the river, however, it will take a while for the river to refill." Daniel said pointing to the river on a map that resided on the table.

"Something else…to think about. Population. Last I heard, it was almost impossible to give birth to a healthy child, most mothers miscarried or the child died shortly after birth. How would we combat this, Daniel?" Sarah asked. Sarah thought a long time about asking this question. She had always wanted to have a family. But she knew that would be impossible. She had too many responsibilities, and she really hadn't found 'the one.' But after seeing Daniel step up to help the Wasteland, that was beginning to change.

"Hmm…I know that a standard Vault-Tec Vault holds a max of 10,000 people. Vault 101, when I left, was nearing max capacity. I'm not sure about other vaults. I guess after clearing the air around D.C. we need to encourage people to start…procreating." Daniel said to Sarah who for some reason, blushed.

"Find yourself a wife and set the example, Paladin! But don't come proposing to me!" Paladin Cross teased. "You'll be the envy of the Wasteland! I can see it now. Give a child to Uncle Sam; just as the Lone Wanderer and his mate have!"

Daniel blushed. "Uhh…wha…you're not serious, are you?" He said fumbling. Daniel had never really thought about having a family of his own. Sure, he sometimes had strong sexual urges, but he never contemplated the thought of having a child.

"I don't think Paladin Cross was, but I am." Spoke up Elder Lyons. "While I may not have been studying the logistics of reconstruction as Paladin Daniel has, I have studied the human element. Repopulation is of dire importance. What use is reconstruction if no one is here to enjoy it? Once we all perish, who will take over? If we don't encourage and engage the people in reproduction, our nation will fall back into this vicious cycle. Our job here is to preserve life. By reproducing, we preserve it." Elder Lyons said very seriously looking at Daniel deeply.

Sarah felt very uncomfortable. While her father was talking with Daniel, she thought about what having a child with the Lone Wanderer would be like. She knew instantly that one day the Lone Wanderer would become some sort of leader or president. To be the mother of the president's children? To set a national example? The act of bearing the child of the national hero would definitely have its perks in the long run.

"Anyway, we will continue our meetings tomorrow. Dismissed." Elder Lyons said walking out of the Council chambers.

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