"So, how do you feel?" Moira asked, chipper as ever, even when Gloria felt like she was going to burn a hole through the thin metal under her feet.

"Just fucking cure me or I'll fucking kill you," Gloria gritted through her teeth before throwing up the contents of her stomach.

"I see you've gone above and beyond with the radiation. I only asked for 200 RADs, you know."

A glance to her geiger counter, and Gloria realized that she was at 876 RADs. Moira giggled, for some reason, and pulled Gloria into the back of the shop, where she sat the Vaultie down on her bed and took her tests.

Gloria had passed out sometime between then and waking up on Moira's bed, and silently thanked whatever merciful God was watching over her that she didn't feel like throwing up.

She sat up and checked her geiger counter again, and sighed in relief when it was at zero RADs, and then stood up and walked into the store.

Moira was humming along with the radio, tinkering away at some device that Gloria knew wouldn't work unless she gave it batteries, and she smiled at Gloria when she cleared her throat.

"How are you feeling?" She sounded almost calm, not as energetic as usual. Gloria shrugged and said "I feel the same as usual."

"Well, that's good enough," Moira put down her screwdriver. "Listen... there was a problem. Nothing too serious just... a little tiny... mutation."

Well, the merciful God certainly wasn't as merciful as Gloria thought.

"All right, what is it?" She should have been mad, but for some reason, she couldn't get mad at Moira. It would have felt like she was kicking a kitten, if they still were around.

"You heal faster the more irradiated you are."

"Oh, well, that's not that bad. I thought you were going to tell me that I had another hand or something."

Moira laughed, "No, silly! That's just ridiculous! Your offspring would have another hand, not you!"

"Right," Gloria walked to the counter and leaned against it, "So, what's next?"

Moira pushed her project aside and leaned her arms against the counter in front of Gloria, "I need you to get some mines from a town called Minefield."

"Oh," Gloria sighed.

"All you need to do is go into the center of town and bring back a mine for me to look at."

"All right, cool," Gloria opened the map on her Pip-Boy and Moira marked its location, and Gloria turned around to leave, when she realized that she didn't have her gun on her.

"Where's my electric rifle?" She asked suspiciously, and Moira hummed in thought, then her face lit up, "Oh! I took it from you when I did your tests," She looked under the counter, then pulled it out and set it on top.

Gloria took it and slung it over her shoulder.

~~~~~~~ (kind of a time jump…..)~~~~~~~~

It was when Gloria woke up in yet another unfamiliar building with someone sleeping by her side she truly knew she was in unknown territory. And what's worse, is she had no idea where her clothes were. Not even her underwear.

With this newfound realization, she tried to remember what got her into this predicament.

She was on her way to Rivet City when she got a message on her Pip-Boy advertising a boat ride to a place called Point Lookout. She wasn't usually a curious person, but this piqued her interest.

A month on a boat, and there she was. Swamp and inbreds as far as the eye could see.

She can now vaguely remember a ghoul yelling at her and then she got really high and then she woke up with no hair and a large scar on her head. Some more shit happened to her, she was almost blown to pieces, and she had a casual conversation with a floating brain. Nothing out of the ordinary.

And as it turns out, during her stumbling around the swamp, high as a kite, she had a part of her brain removed by none other than the man who invited her to the swamp in the first place. She had her revenge, and a piece of her brain is now on a shelf in a jar at home, next to her other trinkets and collectables from around the Wasteland.

When she returned to Megaton, she went straight to Craterside Supply, and Moira almost tackled her in a hug, and then told her she looked better without hair.

She knew her dad would throw a fit, though. The thought made her smile.

Then it hit her. Her dad was still missing. She had been gone a month on a boat to some swamp and she completely forgot about her poor dad.

When she set off next time, she was distracted yet again by a message from the Brotherhood Outcasts. They needed her for a simulation, which she hesitantly agreed to. It was boring and she was glad she wasn't in Alaska right now.

On her third try to go to Rivet City, a radio broadcast got her attention, and the next thing she knew, she was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Well, what used to be Pittsburgh. It was called The Pitt now, and it was the perfect description of Hell.

Through a drunken stupor, she had teamed up with a group of slaves to help get a cure for their disease. Easy enough, Gloria was good at fetching quests. But this wasn't like any other quest.

She had to gain the attention of the slave master, a man whose name she forgot long ago, and fought for glory. One of the guards joked her name was meant for her. She was too drunk to understand what he meant.

What the slaves didn't tell her was the cure was actually a baby. The slave master's baby.

Through it all, she had managed to smuggle enough vodka into The Pitt to be brave enough to steal a baby, evade raiders and monsters, and deliver the baby without harm. Somehow.

She almost cried when she returned to the D.C. Wasteland.

On her third trip back to Megaton, she had paid a visit to her new best friend, Moira Brown.

And somehow, a "You stole a baby?!" turned into "Wakey-wakey sleepy head!"

Gloria's head was pounding, and looked way too happy this early in the morning.

"What was that?" Gloria mumbled, rubbing her eyes. She felt around on the table next to her for her glasses and slipped them onto her face.

"You passed out while talking about your trip, so I let you sleep over. I have to open shop soon, but you can stay here if you want to take another nap," Moira gently smiled. Gloria sighed and sat up, deciding to get out of bed and go back home. She needed to eat and take a shower and... clean her house. Oh, how she hated cleaning.

She waved at Moira as she left the store and went home.

It was a little sad to return to an empty house for some reason. Even if Gloria liked her solitude, she missed having someone to come home to, even if it was only her dad.

Sighing, she slumped on the couch and rubbed her eyes, her glasses now resting uncomfortably on her head.

The radio was buzzing a song she didn't particularly like, making her head ache more and her temper rise.

Shit, her dad. He probably wasn't even alive any more...

No! No, she can't think like that!

She most definitely growled at herself and punched the wall next to her. She had to find Dad. Now.

Stomping into Moriarty's Saloon, she took a moment to look around and then walked to the bar, when Gob smiled and said, "Well if it isn't the Lone Wanderer herself."

"Give me all the vodka you have. None of that weak shit," Gloria said forcefully, and Gob shrugged, getting the things she requested. She paid and left, putting six bottles in her backpack, hoping they wouldn't break on her way to Rivet City. She winked at Nova on her way out, who rolled her eyes in disgust. One day Gloria would seduce her.

No distractions this time, no side missions, nothing. Just get to Rivet City and ask about Dad.

She successfully made it in under a day, and she was alive. The chief of security, Harkness, gave her the creeps for some reason, but she ignored the feeling when she opened the door to the stairwell, Harkness had told her Li was in the science lab.

It was tricky finding it. She had to map out where everything was manually on her Pip-Boy, and security guards kept stopping her to ask her if she's seen any troublemakers. She was a troublemaker... she sure looked like one anyway.

She finally found it after mapping out literally the entire ship.

She approached Dr. Li, who was hunched over a table, looking very grumpy. Gloria decided against her better judgment to leave her alone, and tapped her gently on the shoulder.

"Look, this is a restricted area. I'm tired of telling you people-" Li froze when she turned around and saw Gloria.

Sure, Gloria had recently shaved her head (not her own decision, of course) and she looked a little worse for wear, but she didn't know what was so shocking about her.

"I... It's you. My heavens, you look so much like him... You're James' daughter, aren't you? What are you doing here?"

What? Has her father been here before? (She hoped she didn't look too much like her dad.) "You know my father? Have you seen him?"

"Well yes, of course I do. Don't you know who I am? I suppose James never told you. Typical," She said, a slight hint of bitterness in her tone, "I am Doctor Madison Li. I worked with your father many years ago. Your mother as well, in fact. You'll have to forgive me, this has all been very stressful, what with your father suddenly showing up here after being gone for so long. You have to understand that I... We put all that behind us. Project Purity, our work, all of it. We've moved on, ever if your father hasn't."

"Right," Gloria said slowly, looking Madison up and down. She was attractive for an older lady, very professional looking if she did say so herself. Nothing too interesting about her appearance, so Gloria continued, "I'm trying to find him, have you seen him?"

"You mean you haven't? I assumed he sent you here. For that matter, aren't you supposed to be in a Vault? James said he left you there."

"Fuck the Vault, I'm not staying in that shithole," Gloria spat.

"I see. So you decided to leave one of the safest places in the Wasteland, even though it was in your best interest to stay. Sounds familiar. Well I'm afraid you father is no longer here."

"The Vault is far from safe, by the way. Just... never mind. Could you please tell me where he's gone?"

"Your father insisted we return to work on Project Purity. I tried telling him too much time has passed; there's no way it would work. Predictably, he refused to listen to me. He says he can prove it will work and headed off to the old lab. I'm sorry, I don't know what else to tell you."

"Okay, then where's the old lab?"

"It's in the old Jefferson Memorial Building, northwest of here. Please don't go after him. It was foolish of him to even think about going there alone."

After shooting the last Super Mutant currently sprinting towards her with a sledgehammer, she rubbed her hand over her scalp. This was frustrating. Usually she could keep her anger under control, but she's been on edge lately. She readjusted her bandana on her forehead and marched right into the rotunda.

She shot the remaining Super Mutants, and looked around. There was a huge tank of water in the middle of the room with a bunch of tech around it; this was probably the project her dad was working on. She walked up the stairs, and noticed three holotapes on some weird device.

She loaded them in her Pip-Boy and played the first two. It was her father rambling on about the project. He mentioned something about some scientist named Stanislaus Braun and something called the G.E.C.K. She loaded the last one.

"I'm off to Vault 112 to search for anything of Braun's that might help me get this purifier up and running. All I know is that it's West of some place called Evergreen Mills, and it's well hidden in some sort of garage. But I'll find it, I have to. It's so close, but that's the story of Project Purity, isn't it? An eternity of 'almost there's'. Let's see if Braun has the missing puzzle piece."

She's been to Evergreen Mills before. Well, she wiped out all the raiders there, so she knew where it was. It was really fucking far away from here, but she's so close to finding Dad...

It took about two days with no sleep or rest, and she finally made it to the Vault.

It wasn't anything like 101. It had simulation pods in it to keep the residents safe, and she felt like this was how she was going to find her Dad.

After she was loaded into the simulation, she felt different. She felt small—smaller than already she was, anyway.

Braun, the scientist behind the simulation and most other Vault-Tec inventions, told her if she did what he wanted, he would answer her questions. First was to make some kid cry. It was easy enough; a punch to the jaw could make anyone cry.

Next was to break up a marriage. Okay, that was also easy to do. Kind of mean, but she supposed making some random kid cry was mean too.

Then she needed to kill some lady in a creative way. She rigged her oven to explode, then Gloria asked the woman to bake her a pie.

When she was done, she was to become some old myth and kill all the residents of Vault 112. They would come back to life anyway, which was why she didn't feel too guilty.

Braun let her leave, and she exited the simulation.

She didn't know what to feel as she saw her dad walking toward her. She hopped off the simulation pod and stumbled, but she regained her balance.

She felt like she was dreaming, but it was probably from being in the simulation.

Her dad was the one to hug her tightly, and she stood there, shocked. She didn't know what she should feel.

"Gloria, you've saved me. I was afraid I'd be trapped in there forever. It's so good to see you but... What are you doing here?"

Gloria decided she would be angry.

"What are you doing here? You could've been killed!" She yelled.

"Well, I didn't expect Dr. Braun to be alive and insane. I thought I'd just find notes, or holotapes. I needed information about Braun, and his work on the G.E.C.K."

"And did you get it?"

"I did indeed. The G.E.C.K. was designed to re-adapt environments for living after a nuclear war. It's not entirely stable, but I'm sure that components of that technology are just what we need, what we've been missing all this time. I need to return to Rivet City. Once Madison knows about the G.E.C.K., I can get her to see that it really will work."

"What about me? What am I supposed to do?"

He crossed his arms, and paused, then said sternly, "Yes, what about you? Why, in fact, are you outside the Vault at all? I don't even want to know how you get out. As much as I appreciate your help, you were supposed to stay there, to make a life for yourself there, not out here!"

"Fuck the Vault, I didn't need that place," She spat.

"I see. You're nineteen years old. Are you so sure you know what you want from life already? I supposed it doesn't matter now. I suspect there's no going back for either of us. We'll just have to forge on ahead, won't we?"

"Whatever. Let's head for Rivet City."

"That's my girl," He smiled, "Let's hurry. Now that I know what we need, I want to get back to work as soon as possible."

He walked toward the exit, and Gloria followed him.

They walked in silence for a while, Gloria swooping in every time to save him from Super Mutants or raiders.

Gloria was feeling worn down. She needed rest.

"Dad, I really need to stop..." She leaned against a crumbled building. James stopped, then nodded.

"We can rest for the night. I'll keep watch."

Gloria dozed off for a while, then a noise startled her awake. She reached for her gun, when her father pulled her hand away. "It was only me, sorry. Go back to sleep."

"I'll be fine, I'm used to it." Gloria said. She picked up her bag and dug around in it, then pulled out a bottle of dirty water and a bottle of purified water. She gave the purified water to her dad, and she opened the bottle of dirty water.

"Are you sure you want to drink that?"

"I'll be fine. A little radiation's not gonna hurt me."

"Sounds like you've never had radiation poisoning before."

"I have, actually," She took a long drink of the water, "for this girl in Megaton..." She said fondly, a smile on her lips, "She wanted me to get super irradiated so she can study me or... something." She pulled out a bag of potato chips and opened it. She offered it to her dad, who took a handful, then ate one at a time.

She stared at the ground for a while, then looked back up at her father, "Um... can we talk for a minute?"

James finished his water, then wiped his mouth, "Of course, honey. What's on your mind?"

To be honest, Gloria didn't really know. Was she mad her father up and left her? Or was she happy to see him, a familiar face in an unfamiliar world.

"How you could leave me like that? What the hell were you thinking?" She was almost on the verge of tears. Her vision became blurry, and she saw the sadness in her father's features. He hated seeing her cry, so he stood up and sat next to her. She took off her glasses and wiped away her tears. He pulled her into a hug, and she didn't push him away.

"I wanted to you to be safe. I didn't want this for you—a life out here in this Godforsaken warzone," He said softly, voice barely above a whisper, "I couldn't tell you what I was doing because I didn't want you following me. A plan which clearly was not as successful as I imagined it would be."

She pushed him away, putting her glasses back on, a pained look on her face. "Why would you put yourself at a risk like this? You have some sort of death wish?" Like she was the one to talk.

James had a look of shock on his features, "What? No. No, of course not! I... This is important work. Clean water can change the lives of so many people. It's worth the risk to help them."

Gloria pushed herself away from him, "Helping people? What about helping your own daughter?!"

James' heart sank as he watched his daughter start to cry again. He wanted to comfort her, but she would push him away.

"I understand you're angry. You have a right to be." He tore his eyes away from his daughter, "Perhaps the choice I made wasn't the right one. At the time, I thought I was doing what was best for you."

"How could abandoning me be the right choice?" She said, trying not to sound as sad as she felt.

"For almost twenty years now, I've done everything I can to see you have a good life. The Vault wasn't perfect, to be sure, but it was the safest place in the Wasteland. That's why I took you there in the first place. I didn't see it as abandoning you. I saw it as moving on, knowing you were safe."

"That's such bullshit!" She yelled, "You know what, Dad? Fuck you."

James kept his calm demeanor, even though his heart was tearing in two.

"I'm sorry you feel that way." Was all he could say.

Gloria slept for another few hours, then they went on their way back to Rivet City at dawn.

They were both anxious. They didn't know what to say to each other, so they didn't speak for the rest of their walk.