Things usually got better with time. Unfortunately for Gloria, this was something that needed to get better now.

It was Moira who gave Gloria her first mission: find food and medicine in a Super Duper Mart. She took the job because, honestly, Moira was cute and she needed the caps.

And now here she is, hiding behind a counter, clutching her electricity rifle for dear life and hoping that the raiders on the other side would just leave. Leave and never come back.

She was on the verge of tears, confusion and fear filling her mind while she tried her best to keep her breathing under control.

"Come out, come out wherever you are!" The raider sang, too close for comfort. Gloria gulped, and took a deep breath and held it.

Option one was to fight with the limited ranged skills she had. Option two was to beat every raider in this God forsaken store to a bloody pulp and emerge victorious and alive. Option three was to make a run for it.

It wasn't like her to run away from a fight. Retreat meant weakness, and she couldn't be weak. Not now, not ever.

She heard footsteps over the pounding in her chest resonating in her ears. They were close - too close.

"Time's up, princess," A low voice sounded, and she felt something metal press against the back of her head.

She froze. Disregarding her previous morals, her first instinct was to run—but retreat was unheard of. So the next instinct was to fight.

She whipped around, and the raider pulled the trigger, hitting Gloria in the arm. In an adrenaline-filled rage, she kicked the gun out of his hands and punching him in the jaw and slammed his head into the counter as hard as she could.

There were more raiders closing in, so with her unharmed arm, Gloria picked up her electricity rifle and shot blindly all around her.

When it beeped, indicating that there wasn't any ammo left, she ducked behind the counter again and reloaded with a shaky hand, and stood up again, ready to shoot anything that moved.

And there was nothing.

With a sigh of relief, she slid back onto the floor, pressing her hand against the wound on her arm.

Even under the instruction of her father, the only doctor she's ever known, she never learned how to treat bullet wounds. There was no need. The worst wound she's ever had to fix was when Wally made her fix his broken nose after a particularly nasty fight they got into; granted it was her who broke his nose, so she tried to make him even uglier.

She was starting to doubt herself now. She thought she'd make it out here with her skill in beating up security guards only armed with batons and, but these people had guns. And bullets fucking hurt.

Still, this was nothing compared to what she had done to herself.

Sighing out of annoyance more than anything, Gloria stood up and searched through every safe and cabinet in the entire store and found everything Moira wanted, and finally left this hellhole.

Moira was happy to know that there was food and medicine in the store, and even let Gloria keep it as payment, along with some caps. It wasn't enough compensation for what she had to go through, but it was as good as she was going to get.

After a trip to the clinic, Gloria felt as good as new... well, not new, but kind of worn out and really pissed off.

She was wasting time going off and fighting raiders and getting things for people. She needed to find her dad.

When she finally arrived back at her house in Megaton, she closed the door behind her and sighed. She wanted to go back to the Vault, back where she wasn't being shot at, where she didn't have to pay for food, someplace she actually knew.

Her "dream" to go outside was ridiculous. There was nothing outside, nothing she needed or wanted.

But it's too late to go back now. She's made it this far, and she can't go back without her dad.

Wherever the fuck he was.

She ignored her growing urge to throw up, and headed upstairs to go to bed. She had a long day tomorrow.

She fell asleep to the humming of the fridge and the sound of crickets outside; some things she never wanted to get used to.

She assumed the underground tunnels throughout the wasteland were subway stations. She also wished they worked. But the metro wasn't too bad; nothing Gloria couldn't handle. It took a while, but she made it out to Chevy Chase station easily enough, with only a few minor wounds and bruises.

She was tired, hungry and thirsty when she reached daylight again. There was no time to rest, she really needed to find Three Dog. She hid behind a cement wall to look around for danger.

Nothing.

She readjusted her rifle on her back and stood up straight, and suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder.

She staggered, and immediately raised her hand to the wound. Who- or what- the hell hit her?

She ducked down behind the wall again and looked around, more closely. It was hard to see in the fading light, but she noted two large silhouettes walking towards her. She gulped, unsure of what to do. She dug out a Stimpack from her bag and injected it into her shoulder, then pulled the rifle off her back. She reloaded, then took aim.

Before she was going to pull the trigger, another gunshot sounded, and one of the figures fell down, its head blown right off. The other one whipped around, but was also shot in the head.

Three human-ish-sized figures were walking out from behind the ruins, one congratulating another person named Reddin.

A blonde woman approached her, looking a little annoyed.

"Look, I don't know who you are, but you don't belong here. The Super Mutants have overrun our brothers at the Galaxy News Radio building, and we're headed there to back them up. You can tag along if you want. But keep your head down and try not to do anything... stupid."

"Wait... who the hell are you people?" Gloria asked, a little surprised that this woman was giving information out so freely. Was everyone in the Wasteland like this?

"I'm Sentinel Lyons of the Lyons' Pride. With the Brotherhood of Steel. Don't worry, we're on your side. At least I hope."

"And you mentioned something about GNR?"

"There aren't a lot of safe places in the ruins right now, but the Galaxy News Radio building is sort of out port in the storm. Unfortunately, the building's been hit pretty hard lately. We're their backup. So if there are no more questions, we really need to move out."

Gloria nodded and followed the three Brotherhood members through the ruins, holding her own against the Super Mutants, until they got to the GNR building. There were a lot of Mutants, so Gloria picked them off from a distance. After all the Mutants were killed, Reddin decided to investigate a little more, which was a dumbass idea, since a Super Mutant Behemoth crashed through there and killed her.

The Behemoth seemed to be running straight towards Gloria, so she screamed and ran around, shooting at it, trying to take it down (gracefully, of course). The other Brotherhood members all fought at a distance.

Eventually, Gloria took it down. It had gotten her a few times. Her arm felt like it was going to fall off, but she would manage. Sentinel Lyons patted her on the shoulder, "I guess it's my turn to thank you. Anyway, the area's secure, so you're free to talk to Three Dog if you need to."

Gloria thanked her with a side-smile, then walked into the building.

The area Three Dog lived in was a mess. She could tell right as she opened the door. Though, she felt a little safer here.

She walked up the stairs, where a man waited for her. She assumed it was Three Dog himself.

"The look on your face says it all. You're wondering who the heck this guy is and why you should care. Well, prepare to be enlightened. I am Three Dog - jokey of discs and teller of truths. Lord and master over the finest radio station to grace the Wastes - Galaxy News Radio. And you, well... I know who you are Miss Hill. Heard about you leavin' that Vault, travelin' the unknown. Just like dear old dad, hmm? Met him already..."

"What's with the flashy introduction?" Gloria snorted.

"Hey, when you're in the Good Fight, you gotta give it all you got and never, ever hold back. Always dazzle 'em, I always say. Always dazzle 'em and spread the word."

"Okay, well, I'm just looking for my dad," She said, really confused. Like, seriously, what the hell was he talking about?

"Hey, not everyone's cut out for bigger and better things. Sometimes the smallest roles in the good fight are the most important. But enough of that. If it's your dad you seek, then I will abide."

"Just, please tell me."

"He was here, at Galaxy News. We had a great conversation. He's a real stand-up guy. If you want to know more, you're going to have to contribute to the Good Fight."

"C'mon, Three Dog. My dad's gone and I really need to find him."

It was almost too easy to convince him.

Her father went to Rivet City to meet with someone named Madison Li to work on Project Purity. Neither she nor Three Dog knew what that was, so that meant she had to ask him herself.

As she exited into the plaza, Sarah Lyons took off her helmet and clamped Gloria on the back, "Thanks again for your help, it was really appreciated."

Gloria gulped, feeling a bit giddy. She shrugged and tried to play it cool, "You know. Just doing my job."

"Three Dog's called you the Lone Wanderer. Guess that makes sense since, well, you're alone. You want some company?"

"Huh, guess I didn't really notice. And it's fine; I can handle myself," she paused, looking Sarah in the eyes, "What else has he said about me?"

"You're too short to be James' kid."

Well, he wasn't wrong about that.

"So, uh, how about you and me take a walk?" Sarah asked, a blush creeping onto her cheeks. Gloria shrugged, mumbling out "sure, whatever," and followed her into the ruins.

She nudged Sarah away, glancing at the doorway of some abandoned shack then decided to spend the in, and whispered, "Hey, wake up."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm up," Sarah pulled herself into a sitting position, sighing and rubbing her hands through her hair. She used the hair tie around her wrist to pull it back into a ponytail and then turned to Gloria, who smiled at her with her teeth bared in an almost creepy way, but she paid no mind to it.

"What time is it?"

Gloria slid her glasses onto her face and checked her Pip-Boy, "ten to nine. We're fine."

"Shit," Sarah cursed and pulled on her underwear, then her jumpsuit, "God fucking damn it."

"What's the matter?"

"I had to be back at the plaza before anyone noticed I was gone. Fuck, they're going to think I deserted them and-"

"Woah, hey, calm down. They know that you're okay."

"How?"

"…You're right, they don't know. Let's go."

After gathering up their belongings, they headed back to the GNR plaza in an awkward silence, before Sarah spoke up, "Hey... I have a question."

"What is it?" Gloria asked, fiddling around on her Pip-Boy before looking up at Sarah, lowering her wrist at the other's furrowed brows. "Woah, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I was just… wondering… I mean since you're gay I was just-"

"I have a girlfriend," She interrupted the other, and Sarah sputtered, "What? No! That's not what I was going to- You know what, I was wondering how you knew you were gay. I just…" Sarah looked down at the laser rifle in her hands, "I don't know how to handle it. These feelings, I mean. I'm not sure they're appropriate."

Gloria stopped for a second, her voice catching in her throat. She knew exactly how that felt.

"You don't. It hit me one day and then I just rolled with it. It's different for everyone. You're going to be okay," she offered. She knew it wasn't much, but she was never good at comforting other people.

Sarah glanced back at her, smiling, "Thanks, Gloria."

Gloria had no clue if that actually helped, but she hoped it did.