Hello ladies and Gentlemen the second chapter is up (Cheers!) and I am finally going to be able to focus on this story. I will update more often after this, please enjoy.
The Courier walked forward eyeing the Raider camp through the scope of his anti-Material Rifle. He reached up and toggles the sneak sight on his Riot Helmet the Raiders popping out in his vision, a red outline defining them.
"So what do you recommend," The Courier asked turning to look at Boone.
".50 caliber rounds from three hundred yards, all headshots"
"You always say that"
"It always works."
"Can't argue with you there" the Courier said before reaching into his pack to pull something out, "But that's more subtle that what I'm going for."
Out of the bag the Courier pulled Mercy, a 40mm grenade machine gun, and started loading it.
The raiders saw the courier in an odd light; he was walking towards them his weapon on his back with glowing red eyes like some kind of kid's nightmare. The Courier reached the gate and without muttering a word and unslung Mercy. The Raiders reacted fast drawing weapons and taking aim, a few even got shots off, shortly before being blown to pieces. The fight, if one would call it that, was over in seconds the raiders rendered to pulp, the only ones that survived the initial attack were picked off by Boone and Raul seconds after the dust settled. The Courier walked up to the leader of the Raiders, the only one spared, and smashed him to the ground with an armored hand, Lucy, Veronica, and Cass were walking in to examine the area.
The Courier stood over the Raiders leader, the man on his knees begging hard enough to make his Mohawk jiggle as he promised them everything from money to slaves to spare him. The Courier kneed him in the face knocking him onto the ground and placing his foot on the Raiders neck adding pressure slowly cutting of the leader's air.
"People like you are what's wrong with this world."
The Raider's air was completely cut off the man trying desperately to dislodge the Courier's foot, scratching at the armored leg of the Riot Gear. The courier took his foot off the man's throat long enough for him to take a few breaths before smashing it back down watching as the Raider began to understand what the Courier was doing. He did this a few times, each time chocking the poor man a little longer until Cass took notice.
Cass ran over and slammed into the Courier like a football player before grabbing Dinnerbell, a gift from him, and blowing the raiders head off ending the man's torment.
Cass gave him an odd look, "What has happened to you?" She said shock on her face; "You're not the same person I met back at the Mojave outpost, you've turned into some kind of monster."
Cass backed away a scared look on her face.
Veronica walked over to the courier
"She has a point you have changed since we all met you, and we all want to know what happened." As Veronica said this Boone and Raul were entering the camp from the positions they had used to snipe the Raiders from.
"Here's your rifle back boss," Raul said tossing a sniper rifle to the Courier the man catching it with one hand and slinging the Pitch black rifle on his back the silencer gentle tapping against the side of Mercy.
The Courier sat down and took off his helmet, his face almost white from the hundreds of hours he had spent in it revealing on his face a hard expression placed and three scares crossing the bridge of his nose, his left check to the same ear and, the most startling to those unused to seeing it, a white circle the size of a dime, the only remnant of when Benny shot him in the head.
"I learned," the Courier muttered. He rarely talked unlike when Cass and Boone first met him, when they had first talked he was an eager helper fixing the problems he had seen and doing everything that was asked of him, as long as it had good intentions.
About a month ago he had gone back to Doc Michel's for an annual checkup to see if he was having any adverse and lingering effects from his "Encounter" with Benny. They had gone through the usual physical when the Doc asked him to use the Vite-O-Matic again. The Courier had stepped up and pulled the lever on it as the machine spit out information, and showing how his Charisma and Luck had bottomed out. The luck wasn't a big dip, the Courier always seemed like a thirteen pitch black cats, but the doc had to do another checkup to see if there had been any frontal lobe damage.
Veronica stared at him wondering what she could do to get him out of the shell he had developed. She had seen it happen a ton of Paladins go through something like this the only survivor from a surprise attack in a bobby trapped building slinking away with a survivor's guilt, either getting over it, or placing their laser pistol in their mouth and ending it. But at this point Veronica had run out of ideas, she had don't everything she could think of from a night on the town to letting him fully relax without a distraction, and nothing worked. He started on the path that worried her, doing more and more dangerous jobs and fighting in more dangerous ways. After what she learned what he did for the thorn she was ready to kill him, taking on the Deathclaw nest without and backup the turning down Lucy's offer after getting Dinnerbell. Cass tried her approach and walked away without doing a thing to the Courier's shell, abet feeling better then she had for a long while if a bit sore.
ED-E floated over to the Courier and the edges of his mouth twisted up ever so slightly, the closest he got to a smile nowadays.
-In the Capital wasteland-
The Lone Wanderer walked out of his room in Megaton, carefully closing the door behind him so as not to wake Sarah, and started his daily routine. Making food for the two of them, telling Wadsworth his jobs for today, and cleaning his weapons and armor, along with Sarah's was the beginning, afterwards he would go around town and do a quick sweep of the area to make sure no Raiders or Enclave had set up shop outside the town, Dogmeat trotting happily by his side. Jason opened the door to his house as Sarah walked down the stairs giving him a warm smile and a kiss.
She was always getting up later than him, more accustom to the Brotherhood's schedule than his. They sat down eating the meal he had prepared earlier, a fresh meal of shredded wheat, one of the crops being sold from rivet city from the hydroponics department that had been set up. The Capital wasteland was on his way to recovery, Rivet City was almost a capital, Megaton becoming a trade hub and Canterbury Commons was rebuilding after the "help" from the Mechanist. As Jason and Sarah walked to the Citadel they passed a group of settlers from the small hovels scattered around the waste, being helped be Fawkes and Uncle Leo to start a new settlement Named Tin-town after the material they had made the roofs out of, hundreds of old rusty tin cans, the sight was a good one they had well kept weapons and plenty of ammo along with old clay pots (none in great shape) that various herbs and fruits were growing out of. The only problem was Leo trying to make a Buddhist temple for "others who want to seek balance." The sight of a Super Mutant trying to teach philosophy to people who barely knew how to add was a new one to the wastes.
The world had a brighter feel to it; people were less afraid, thanks to the Brotherhood's patrols and the decline of the Mutant population. Recruitment was up too, more people from the Wasteland wanted to become one of the stoic monolithic Brotherhood Paladins, so many that the Brotherhood had to expand its operations and they started fixing up another floor of the Citadel. Jason's friends had set up to help the people protect themselves; the Regulators had an Instructor in every town teaching the people how to fight correctly not just desperately. Jason smiled as he saw a Brotherhood Vertibird fly over head. He had caused this, he had come out of the Vault and breathed new life into the world, after two hundred years the Capitol was back, and this time, it was for good.