The sunlight was still blinding as ever when the three of them - Gloria Hill, Butch DeLoria, and Stacy Cole - found themselves at the top of the hill overlooking Megaton and the remnants of Springvale. It was nostalgic to Gloria at least, and Butch and Stacy both covered their eyes with both of their hands.
Gloria opted to give them each a pair of sunglasses, but she didn't have any. She smiled, remembering how scared she was, how lost and desperate she used to be. Now she could say she's the Ranger of the Wastes, whatever that means. Three Dog calls her that, and the name kinda stuck. "Lone Wanderer" doesn't apply to her any more since she picked up Dogmeat.
"Your headache will go away in about a day," Gloria mumbled and led the two to Megaton.
She had deja vu when she entered the gates of the small ramshackle town, except now she was literally a legend and a few thousand caps richer.
It was nice knowing that she started a new chapter in her life. She was probably never going to see anyone from the Vault (except Butch and Stacy) ever again, and she honestly didn't care one bit. This was her life now: wake up, kill something, come home, get high, go to sleep. It was nicer than her Vault routine, and it felt even better knowing that she never had to put a bandaid on anyone's scraped knee ever again.
The overwhelming sense of nausea hit her right as she stepped onto the broken pavement. She bent over and threw up as Butch and Stacy looked away, giving her some sense of privacy.
Well. That was interesting. Maybe it was the alcohol or the rush of adrenaline she's been feeling almost all day. She wiped her mouth and spit onto the ground a few times, then covered the mess with dirt. "That was weird."
"You okay?" Stacy asked, rubbing her finger under her nose; she did that when she needed to stim, and Gloria assumed throwing up overstimulated her.
"Yeah, probably had too much to drink is all. I'll be fine. I think." She mumbled the last sentence, while she rubbed her eyes, then placed her glasses back on her face.
"Anyways, we should go. I've got a place in a town nearby and I'll show you the ropes."
Both of them were fascinated by the size of Megaton. The Vault was probably much larger, but Megaton was a large area enclosed by fences and built up instead of out. Butch touched the metal railings with wonder and burned himself like Gloria had done so many months ago.
They fit in well in Gloria's home, like they've lived there before. Butch had found himself something to fiddle around with while Stacy counted the holes and sharp snags in the walls.
Gloria, on the other hand, had drunken herself into an alcohol-induced-almost coma and slept on the floor like a dog. Neither Butch nor Stacy found the energy to move her.
Stacy picked up a half-empty bottle of vodka and took a swig, cringing as it traveled down her throat and set it back onto the floor near the other countless bottles of alcohol. The sight was worrying, to say the least, but Stacy didn't really know how to approach the subject.
Maybe it wasn't even her business; besides, Butch was way better at dealing with this kind of thing than she was.
The thought of Gloria drinking herself to death made her heart sink. While they hadn't been close throughout childhood, she was one of the only people she knew out here in the Wasteland.
Oh, Geez. Gloria didn't have anyone she knew out here when she first left the Vault. It must have been torture knowing that everything she knew was only down the road and sealed behind a six-ton door.
Everything Stacy knew was sealed behind that door. She sighed and tucked her hair behind her eyes, closing her eyes slowly to let the feeling sink in.
Butch, on the other hand, couldn't be happier to be out of the Vault. It wasn't like anyone actually cared about him; the only person who did was Stacy (he thinks) and she was out here with him, so! He didn't leave anyone behind.
Not even his mother who hadn't done anything to stop him from leaving and had been so fucking horrible to him ever since—
Stacy placed a hand on his shoulder, jolting him out of his thoughts. She still had a smile on her face, since she had a hard time with empathy and telling when people are upset. It didn't bother him in the slightest, though, since it was kind of embarrassing he was sad about his mom.
No, no. He couldn't care less about her. She didn't care about him, anyway, why would be care about her?
"Woah, you okay Butch?" Gloria had woken up and noticed the scowl on his face. He huffed and looked away from her. She shrugged and picked up a half-empty bottle of beer and drank the rest of it, wincing at the horrible taste, and threw the bottle somewhere else.
"Hey, so, we gotta get something from a Vault or… whatever. And like, you know. Not die. You know how to shoot a gun right?"
Both of them shook their head, and Gloria groaned and laid back on the floor, "Tomorrow I'll teach you. Whatever. Go back to bed."
"It's twelve in the afternoon," Butch glanced at his Pip-Boy, then back to his drunk companion, who waved her hand in dismissal.
Gloria woke up briefly to sit up and wonder who the hell cleaned up her house before she realized that she let Stacy and Butch out of the Vault. She almost immediately regretted that decision.
"Wh-" She slurred as soon as Stacy walked down the stairs. "What's going on?"
"Oh, uh, I cleaned up a bit! And then Butch said that he was going to take a nap, so I came back here!"
Gloria laid back onto the ground and stared at the ceiling while Stacy leaned into her line of sight. "I noticed your dad isn't here, is he…?"
"Yeah, he's dead."
"I'm sorry." She really wasn't, but it was the sentiment that mattered. Stacy helped Gloria onto her feet, and then she checked the time on her Pip-Boy. 12: 30. There wasn't enough time to get to Vault 87 before nightfall. Damn, she really needed to get on that, but everything was so overwhelming. She wanted to get high and go to sleep.
Before she could tell Stacy to fuck off, she was interrupted by Butch's annoying voice sounding from the top of the stairs; "And I thought the Vault looked like shit, but it's worse out here."
Stacy scolded him, "Don't be rude."
Gloria chuckled, "I hope you realize I can beat you up now."
"No way, you're still a scrawny stick. I even think you shrunk a few inches." He descended down the stairs to join the rest of their group. Gloria flicked the screen off and scratched her head, "Anyway, it's too late to go out and do… whatever. Get something from somewhere. Why don't you two get something to eat and I'll stay here and fix up some weapons and armor."
"You think she'll be okay? She looked really messed up…" Stacy said as she and Butch walked to the bottom of the crater to get some dinner from the Brass Lantern. She paused briefly to read the neon sign on the side of the building, then turned to her boyfriend, "This is a fast food place? I thought those didn't exist anymore."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
She pointed to the glowing Chinese characters, and she shrugged, "Oh, I thought I already told you: I learned Chinese when I was younger… Mom didn't want me to 'forget my roots' or something." She giggled, "I thought she was wasting my time, but… never mind"
"You'll never have to see her again," Butch slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her against him, and she relaxed in his embrace, "I know. It doesn't reverse what she put me through."
He was silent for a few moments, and she felt comfortable in his embrace.
"Come on, Gloria looks like she's going to drop dead if she doesn't eat soon."
Stacy nodded in agreement, "I'm worried about her."
"Me too, Stacy." Butch said, "It's not our place to talk about it."
"That's oddly mature of you."
"Thanks… I think." He smiled as Stacy playfully hit him in the arm and then ordered their food.
The sun was rising and sending light into Gloria's small house through the holes in the walls and windows. Stacy woke up, eyes fluttering open and immediately shutting when the light shined into them. She turned to face away from the window, and snuggled closer to Butch, who was sound asleep next to her. She smiled and kissed him gently on the cheek, trying her best not to wake him as she got out of bed. She stretched her tired limbs and tip-toed out of their room.
Gloria was awake, Stacy noticed; she probably didn't go to bed. She had on her glasses and a grey bandana wrapped around her head, her Vault 101 jumpsuit was sleeveless and torn up, revealing her dirty white undershirt and her boots were falling apart. Stacy also noted that she was drinking a bottle of vodka, with a few beer and whiskey bottles scattered around her.
Stacy walked down the stairs and over to the Wanderer, looking over her shoulder.
She was concentrating on her electricity rifle; it was torn apart and the pieces looked like they were thrown around on the workbench.
"What is it?" Gloria asked, a little annoyed, but mostly tired. Stacy's breath caught in her throat, "You didn't eat last night I was wondering-"
"Go back to bed."
"What about you? You need sleep too."
Gloria cursed as she touched something that was glowing inside the gun, then waved Stacy away, "I'm busy."
"You need to go to bed, Nosebleed," Butch said from the top of the stairs, leaning over the railing. He started Stacy, as she didn't hear him get up.
Gloria glared at him, then back to the gun, "Leave me alone for fuck's sake."
"It's not healthy to stay awake this long," He walked down the stairs and over to the two girls, and kicked an empty beer bottle, "and this drunk."
"Fuck off, Butch," Her brows furrowed, and even Stacy could tell that if Butch didn't let up, they were going to start throwing punches.
"I'm saying, Gloria, if you don't wanna die, you need to take care of yourself."
She threw her half-empty bottle of vodka at him, which he easily dodged and it crashed against the wall.
Stacy surprised her urge to clean it up, due to having lot of experience with thrown vodka bottles, and stepped back as Butch grabbed Gloria by the front of her jumpsuit and throwing her against the wall next to the front door.
Gloria grunted and pushed herself off of the wall and punched Butch in the jaw, and Butch gritted his teeth and punched her in the stomach. Gloria kicked him in the nuts and when he doubled over, she kneed him in the face. Butch stood up and, ignoring his most likely broken nose, grabbed Gloria by the front of her jumpsuit and shoved her against the wall, then punched her in the face a few times.
And that's when Stacy almost literally snapped.
"Both of you, stop!" She screeched, and Butch stopped short of delivering another punch, and Stacy pushed them apart. "We're not in the Vault any more, you don't need to fight every five minutes!"
Gloria rolled her eyes and Butch glared at her.
"I'm..." Stacy took in a deep breath, "I'm sick of you two fighting all the time. We're in this together, and if you can't get along then what's the point of working together? We can't argue while those Enclave guys take over the Wasteland, you need to get along or they're going to win. Without your teamwork... everything will fall apart and we will die."
No one said anything, so Stacy took it as a sign of surrender from the both of them.
"Now, Gloria," She looked at the blonde, who looked a bit taken back, but with a hint of anger on her features. Stacy smiled and gently touched her shoulder, "you're a mess, and you need to sober up. Have a meal and take a shower. I'll wash and fix up your clothes. I'll also clean your house since your robot has mysteriously disappeared."
Gloria didn't argue. Stacy turned to Butch and pulled him into a hug, "You too, get something to eat, take a shower and get back to sleep."
"Fine," He groaned, and Stacy smiled even wider and kissed him on the forehead.
After the three ate and bathed, Gloria and Butch went back to their separate rooms and hopefully went back to sleep. Stacy worked on repairing everyone's armor and cleaned up the house.
When the sun had fully set and the moon's light shined in through the windows, Stacy went upstairs to check on the two of them.
Gloria was sound asleep in her bed, clutching a teddy bear tightly and mumbling something in her sleep. Stacy placed her now tear-free, clean jumpsuit on her desk. Her eye caught a framed picture of Mr. Hill and ten-year-old Gloria, both smiling.
She brushed off the dust that collected on it and she heard Gloria sigh.
"For my tenth birthday, Dad and Jonas fixed up a BB gun for me," Gloria said. Her eyes still looked tired, but she was smiling - something Stacy hadn't seen in a long, long time.
"Was that even allowed?" Stacy asked as Gloria sat up and rubbed her eyes.
"No," She laughed, "but he did it anyway. Security in there was so shitty, I was able to make so many weapons."
"Why?"
She scratched her leg and shrugged, "I hoped I would somehow need them. Like... Ever since I was a kid I knew I didn't really belong in there. I had always dreamed of escaping."
"I didn't."
"A lot of people didn't. We were taught that there was nothing out here, and yet... here we are. In a town with people we haven't grown up with. We're outside."
Stacy smiled, "Yeah... you're right. It's a little scary."
Gloria's smile was sympathetic, "Yeah, it is. Hell, I've been in space and I'm still damn scared sometimes. But you've got me and Butch. We won't let anything hurt you, okay?"
Stacy ran to Gloria and hugged her tightly, "Thank you." She whispered. Gloria laughed and hugged her back, "You're welcome. You need to get to bed now. Thanks for... everything."
Stacy nodded and returned to her room.
Gloria sat up and picked up the picture Stacy was looking at.
Both she and her dad looked so happy. There was nothing wrong with her at the time.
It felt so long ago; it didn't feel like it was her at all.
Gloria put the picture down and tried to keep her tears from spilling out of her eyes. She really needed to forget. Forget everything.
She dug around in her bag and pulled out a vial of Med-X and removed the cap and took a deep breath before sticking the needle into her arm and depressing the plunger. She pulled the needle out and put the cap back on and set it next to the picture.
It took a few minutes for her mind to become hazy and her body to become numb, and she fell into a dreamless sleep.