Thanks for the reviews/alerts peeps! LittleLoki: they're in there, if you haven't read that far already. ;)
James reached up weakly from the floor of the Purifier, wiping the mess obscuring his daughter's face through the glass door away and felt the events of his life fly before him, culminating in his last seconds here before her. Never enough time. There was never enough, Catherine. How did it run out so fast?
Shortly after one of the control panels had shown Cort successfully clearing the pipe blockage he had sent her after, they had heard the turrets outside the room rattle off a quick burst before exploding. An armed group had then stormed into the Rotunda, led by a tall iron-haired man wearing a brown duster over a black uniform, three in grey fatigues immediately herding most of Li's staff to the other end. As those in power armour followed the tall man in front, the doctor herself froze on the stairs and looked infuriated, glancing towards James for direction. Quickly thumbing a button on the intercom as Janice backed up towards him, he spoke into it rapidly, praying that his daughter was still in a position to hear him. "Everyone, it seems we have some visitors. I don't know who they are or what they want. Please, everyone remain in your assigned areas until we get this sorted out. For anyone who has gone outside of them, return immediately and be careful." The tall man, clearly in charge, immediately turned and waved to five of of the armour-clad figures behind him, speaking with a drawling southern accent.
"You, locate the rest of the staff. Eliminate any armed resistance you may discover." He turned and started up the stairs as they peeled back out into the Memorial, walking towards Doctor Li. Bristling, she strode up to the man as he advanced and stared him down, any fear she may have been feeling hidden behind the steel of her character and moral outrage. Not for the first time, James found himself glad that she was still around.
"What is the meaning of this intrusion? None of you are authorized to be in this building, this is a private facility."
"Madam I assure you, the Enclave is fully authorized to enter any building in this great nation, particularly those devoted to one of our Founding Fathers." He raised his voice and looked around, clasping his gloved hands behind his back. "Now who is in charge of this project? They are to step forward immediately and hand over all materials related to it."
The Enclave? Oh God help us. James started out of the Control Room, rapidly backing up again and smiling grimly as the remaining two armoured soldiers came towards him with raised rifles. "That's quite impossible, this is a private project and the Enclave has no right to interfere. I'm going to have to ask you to leave, at once." The tall man strode up the stairs and entered, motioning both of the armed figures to either end of the room.
"And based on that statement, am I to assume sir, that you are in charge?"
"Yes, I am responsible for this project and these people."
"Then I repeat, sir, you are to handle over all materials related to the Purifier. Furthermore, you are to assist Enclave scientists in assuming control of the administration and operation of this facility."
Narrowing his eyes and staring harder at the man's insignia, James had a split second to wonder how they had known about the project's function before the answer dawned on him, slamming into his mind like a bullet. That damned DJ and his bullshit radio station. When I get everyone out of this that man is losing his Goddamned flapping tongue. "Colonel...is it Colonel? I'm sorry, but this facility is not operational and never has been. I'm afraid you're wasting your time here."
"Colonel Autumn, sir. And this is the last time I am going to repeat myself. Stand down at once and turn over control of this facility and all materials related to its operation."
James silently seethed. There was no way he was going to hand over control of Project Purity to the Enclave, or anyone else aside from Li or his own daughter. From the rumours he had heard over the years, they were the last organization that could be allowed to hold something so potentially influential. Frowning, he spoke back firmly. "Colonel, I assure you that this facility will not function. We have never been able to successfully replicate test results-"
Autumn pulled out his 10mm and shot the quavering woman standing to his left, gore flying out the back of her head and over the main water column as she collapsed to the floor, a rising scream from the rest of the staff cut off immediately by those guarding them when they raised their guns higher. Giving James a bored look, the Colonel re-holstered the pistol. "I suggest you comply immediately sir, in order to prevent any further incidents. Am I making myself clear?"
All of them rapidly turned when another scream suddenly rang out from the other room, scaling up into primal rage, and James closed his eyes briefly in relief. Finally. There's my beautiful girl. Looking through the glass walls of the Control Room as the door to the Rotunda slammed open, he watched Cort burst through as it swung wide, scorched and limping, a homicidal look plastered on her face. Oh honey. Not the entrance I was hoping for. The ghoul appeared behind her a moment later, panting heavily as he hauled her up against him and scanned the room, freezing as several pistols were aimed towards them. Deciding that there was no way they could succeed in attacking the soldiers in the condition they were in, James roared down at them. "Both of you, keep your guns down and keep quiet!" Turning back to the man that had just shot Janice Kapinsky in the head as the ghoul instantly wrenched his daughter's rising repeater away from her, he leveled a cold look at Autumn, his voice silky and even. "So is this your idea of no further incidents, Colonel Autumn? My daughter covered in laser burns?"
He watched Autumn spare an irritated glance for the bleeding pair before turning back to face him. "I'm sure she provided adequate provocation towards my men, whom I assure you were not the only ones I have with me. Unless you want everyone in here to perish, including the girl, I suggest you stand down. I am ready to die for my country sir. Are you?"
James stared at the man, and then shifted his gaze back towards the clump of people spaced around the Rotunda, landing on Cort last of all, who was looking up at him hopefully, waiting for him to do something. Feeling his world falling apart in the Memorial for the second time in his life, he smiled reassuringly and watched the worried lines in her face smooth out. My poor sweet girl. I am sorry, I am so, so sorry that I won't be here for you, and that I wasn't when I needed to be. "No, I am not ready to die for that, Colonel." Pretending to slump defeatedly, he shot a hard look towards Charon before turning to the control panel in front of the Purifier, gratified to see the big man's eyes widen at whatever he saw there. Oh, my darling. At least I won't be leaving you alone this time.
Smiling magnanimously, Autumn replaced his hands behind his back. "Good. After you have finished with your task, I am sure we can all sit down in a more civilized manner. I assure you, a place in the Enclave can be found for a man as talented as yourself, and any of your dependents, such as they may be." He spun around as the glass door to the Control Room suddenly slid shut behind him. "What is the meaning of this? Open that immediately, or-"
Talking calmly over him, James flipped a series of switches and then moved to the next bank of controls. He had no doubts that the only place any of them would be going if he assisted Autumn was where Janice now was, sightlessly staring up with a hole punched into her forehead. "The main door has to close for the Purifier to be activated, it's a safety feature. They will retract as soon as all of the machinery is brought completely online." Li traded a knowing, horrified glance with Daniel Agincourt before both of them stared back up to the Control Room where James continued to work quietly, the ghoul visibly readying himself for whatever was about to happen after seeing the exchange. "Cort, sweetheart?"
"Yes Dad?"
"I've been thinking, and I want you to make sure that you never take Charon's present off, you don't know when he might be able to find you something so pretty again. I bet Madison would like to admire it sometime."
"Daddy?" Cort started squirming in the ghoul's arms, quickly catching on that something was about to go wrong after the odd statement he had made.
Autumn snapped at him, motioning the two soldiers inside with him closer. "Enough of these delays. Activate the Purifier now, sir."
"Just another minute and I'll be done." Reaching out, James absently struck a button, then bellowed at the top of his lungs as an explosion whumped from somewhere inside the Purifier, a klaxon starting to sound immediately afterward. "NOW!"
Even though things happened then in a matter of minutes, for the rest of Cort's life every second remained stretched out to agony in her memory, each one held in its own perfect, minute clarity. Charon had slammed her repeater back into her hand before ramming the butt of his shotgun into the head of the closest Enclave soldier, blood spraying over him, Dogmeat launching himself at the next one as Daniel and Garza tackled the third. Colonel Autumn collapsed along with the two Enclave soldiers inside as Li spun around on the stairs and frantically slapped her hand against the glass. James turned slowly, staggering erratically towards the door as Cort shrieked and ran for him, pounding up the stairs.
"DADDY!" Slumping to the ground on her side of the barrier as he crumpled to the floor, she pressed her hands against it and wailed, her father shakily reaching up to plant one of his own next to hers, still moving only through the sheer force of his indomitable will. "Daddy, what's happening? What did you do?"
"Cortenay, listen to me. You have to be-" He stopped, throwing up violently against the door, then reached up his other hand to clear the vomit away as she shrieked again, the noise tearing through his heart as the rest of his body burned with the immeasurable levels of radiation now pouring out of the Purifier. Never enough time. There was never enough, Catherine, to say everything I needed to you, and now to her. "You have to be brave for me, sweetheart. It's all up to you now. I am so, so proud of you, and I always will be. I love you." Pulling in one final breath, he yelled roughly as the blood-soaked ghoul dropped beside her, pushing out the last of his life on it. "Now run. RUN!" Keeping his eyes on Cort's, he slid the rest of the way down to the floor, his worries mercifully fading out into a moment of perfect peace. Catherine, look. She has your beautiful eyes. Tired, James let his own slip shut, happy to have both of them with him now, and died.
Charon had expected something severe to happen when James had looked at him, seeing in his eyes the same cold insanity that often shone out of his employer's, only far more intense. In his wildest dreams, it could never have been what had just occurred. Cort's father was dead inside the Control Room, and she was blankly staring in at him, fingertips tracing small circles on the glass where his hand had been. Dogmeat trotted up beside them both and pushed his nose against the door, whining, as Li hurriedly came up behind her and gently shook her shoulder.
"Cort, we need to go, they'll be coming for us next. We need to evacu-"
"NO!" Spinning and shooting up to her feet, she slammed her fist into Li's face, breaking the woman's nose before turning back to the door and beginning to pound on it after the release switch failed to work. "WE HAVE TO GET HIM OUT, I'M NOT LEAVING HIM, GET HIM OUT!" Whining louder as she shrieked, Dogmeat started banging himself against the barrier for her, his teeth squealing against it as he started snapping.
Charon turned, searching for something to break the glass with when Li grabbed his arm, her other hand holding onto her nose as a freshet of blood poured out of it. "You can't let her open it! James overloaded the Purifier, there's enough radiation trapped in there to kill us all if it escapes. We need to get out of here, get her out of here! They'll be after her, all of us!" Releasing him after he nodded slowly, she turned to the rest of her staff. "All right, all of you know where to go! Get to the tunnels now, Charon and Cort will be right behind! Alex! Run and lock the entrance if we still have a door left to shut and then get back to everyone else, it might buy us some time. Now, now, now!" Wiping the blood from her face and cursing, she looked back to him as everyone else streamed out of the Rotunda. "You're the only one who's strong enough to get her to move, and I suggest you do it. I won't be trying again."
Reaching for Cort, the big man had time to put his hand on her arm before he was flat on his back with an aching knee, looking up at the ceiling. Charon stared up at his employer in shock, completely blindsided. She had turned long enough to savagely kick one of his legs out and slam both palms into his chest, bringing him down solidly before resuming her assault with the dog, who was crashing against the glass next to her. If the animal was acting rabid, Cort had gone utterly insane, a high keening scream pouring out of her without seeming to stop. Blood was starting to smear everywhere she touched as her fingers sliced open on the metal edges of the door, scrabbling in a futile attempt to pull it open, and froth spraying out of the animal beside her ran down to pool on the floor as he slavered against it.
Yelling out from the door, Li braced herself against the jamb as she tried to keep her attention on both sides of it. "Charon, hurry! There are more of them coming, and if the Enclave takes her away, we'll never see her again!"
Hearing her words, Charon was instantly filled with terror, horrified at the thought of Cort being stolen from him. Nonono, they can't take her away, she's mine, she gave herself to me. I can't lose her, I can't ever. Hauling himself back up, he grabbed her and spun her away from the glass to face him, shaking her hard enough to snap her head around like a rag doll before she could start to attack him instead. Fuck, I can't hit her and knock her out, I don't even know if I can knock her out when she's like this. I'd probably just piss her off even more. Something else, try something else. Leaning in, he bellowed into her face, punctuating each word with another shake.
"Cort, you will listen to your father! NOW RUN!"
As her eyes cleared, he had a second to hope she was going to obey him again like in the drainage pipe before she twisted away, rage burning her into sudden moment of lucidity. "What? NO! I'm not losing him again! We're getting him the hell out of there, and I ORDER you t-"
Oh fuck. She's definitely going to punish me for this. Charon snapped out his right hand and closed it viciously around her throat before she could finish the words, bringing her in tight against his chest as he squeezed. Gurgling, she clawed at his arm and twisted against him, leaving bloody furrows in his flesh and kicking wildly as the ghoul fought down his own rising panic. She can't order me to stop if she's not able to talk. It doesn't count as disobeying if she never said anything in the first place. This is fucking alright to do if I'm saving her life. I'm supposed to keep her safe, I'm supposed to protect my employer. She's strong, this won't really hurt her, I can't really hurt her, I love her. Wrapping his other arm around her as she struggled even harder, he kept up the frantic litany as he continued cutting off the flow of blood to her brain, thankful to the bastards who had made him for once for the knowledge of how to do it. A cold weight settling into the pit of his stomach as Cort's movements became slower and uncoordinated, he released her instantly when she suddenly fell limp against him, finally passing out. Lifting her up after checking to make sure she was still breathing and nearly weeping with relief when he found that she was, he reached down for her repeater and tossed it towards Li, who caught it clumsily and then held the door open, wide-eyed. Charon moved through it, yelling over his shoulder to Dogmeat as he pressed himself against the glass, whining and looking after them. "Knock it the fuck off mutt, he's toast! Protect the girl!"
Following the woman to the group of people waiting in the far corner of the Memorial as the dog loped up beside him, he ripped Cort's pack loose from her limp form and threw it at Daniel, the man swearing as he brought his hands up in reflex to catch it. "What the fuck are you doing?"
'You wanted it before, fucking carry it now. I've got enough weight on my hands." Setting Cort down gently against his legs, he took off his own and threw it to Alex Dargon after removing handfuls of grenades and ammunition, rapidly stuffing them into the pouches on his belt.
Li crouched down to the floor, sweeping debris out of the way with her free hand. "Garza, was the manhole still hidden when you came out here?"
"Yes Doctor Li. I don't think they found it."
"Good, help me pull it off."
Letting out an exasperated noise as the two people tugged at the steel plate, the ghoul shoved them out of the way and ripped it loose in one motion, struggling to keep his employer from crumpling onto the dirty linoleum. "Where the hell does this go?"
Li motioned for her people to go through, rattling off names as they went. " Garza, Daniel, Alex...It leads to the sewers directly in front of the Citadel, we used it the last time we had to evacuate." She paused, jerking her head up and looking around. "Anna, where's Anna?"
"What?"
"Anna Holt's missing, we have to-" Li yelped as another explosion tore out across the Memorial, and Charon swore, recognizing the sound of controlled charges.
"What we have to do is leave, that was someone blowing the outside door off. They're not taking any chances." Almost pushing Li into the hole, he lowered Cort down to her and then scrambled through, pulling the manhole cover back into place after Dogmeat jumped in. Climbing down the ladder, he took his employer back from the other woman and pinned her to him with his left arm, combat shotgun in the other as he led the group down a large circular tunnel, dimly lit up by stuttering overhead panels. "Where now?"
Li motioned forward, practically running to keep up with him and glancing behind them. "This way, just keep going. We have to go through a series of tunnels and access areas. It's been almost two decades since we were down here, and I have no idea what may be down here. Where we entered and where we're going aren't the only ways in."
"Perfect. Stay the fuck behind me and get ready to take her when I need you to." No orders, no intel and I have these fucks to take care of while you're out to lunch. Charon pressed his cheek briefly against the top of Cort's helmet as he dodged around a pile of rubble collapsing out of the wall, snarling when he heard one of the people behind him stumble. If I didn't need them for you I'd fucking ditch them in an instant. "And keep up."
Daniel hissed from somewhere behind him as he heard someone else trip. "You need to slow down so we can all stay with you, or let us dump these bags."
Spinning in place and walking backwards, unerringly avoiding the debris behind him without slowing, the ghoul pinned them all with a chalky glare. "You need to fucking realize that I'm not with you. You're with me. You scrubs are just along for the ride while I get my girl out of this mess, and if you want the only person down here who can actually kill anything to help you, you'll shut the fuck up and haul that shit like you fucking mean it."
"Doctor Li, you can't stand for this! With James gone, you're in charge of the Project, not this, this shuffler!" Li stopped and Charon along with her, waiting only because the woman had stayed with him and Cort back in the Rotunda. Delicately leaning the repeater against the wall, she reached down and removed her shoes just long enough to snap the long heels off against a rock, then awkwardly grabbed up the rifle and started walking again, the big man silently turning to fall in beside her.
"Yes Daniel, I am, and for the moment, I strongly recommend that you shove it where the sun doesn't shine. We've got a long walk."
