A/N: Hello! You're gonna need to give me a sec to explain this one. This story is a crossover between two crossover stories, mine, A Hero's Story which is a Halo/Fallout 4 crossover, and VixenRose1996's, Ash in the Wind, a Skyrim/Fallout 4 crossover. It was an idea she drunkenly suggested to me a while back, so we decided to run with it. Turns out it was a really good idea. It takes elements and themes from both stories and smashes them together, however it is out of continuity for both as well. I won't give away too much at the beginning, but the format is each chapter will have a different POV. We'll be posting one chapter every Sunday, so if you end up interested, keep an eye out for that. Anyways, leave a review if you're so inclined, and as always, enjoy!

Chapter 1: Fear of the Bad Man

Ashe

Chaos.

It was chaos.

Through the thin slits of the vent's heat register Ashe watched as the bandits scrambled around the half-decrepit building, grabbing guns and supplies. They kept shouting at one another, so loud and angry that she couldn't understand what was being said.

One thing was clear though -the camp was being attacked.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

BOOOOOMMM!

The girl flinched, covering her ears and biting down on her busted bottom lip, ignoring the sharp sting of pain. She had to stay quiet. Even though she was pretty sure no one would be able to hear any sounds she made, she wasn't going to take that chance. It had only been the chaos of attack that allowed Ashe to cut the rope that kept her bound to a radiator with a jagged shard of glass. She'd slipped into a hole in the wall, finding herself in a vent and hunkered down.

The space was filled with dirt, dust, and grime with trash covering the floor. She'd had to brush away spiderwebs and try not to scream in terror as she felt things crawl all over her bare feet. But it was hidden and, for now, the safest place for Ashe to be. No one could see her and, if everything went well, she could wait here until the moment was right and then make a run for it.

She had to get back to Dad. She had to fix this.

So Ashe waited, enduring the grossness of her surroundings and pain of her split lip, bruises, the burn on her back, and her twisted ankle.

The Forged hadn't been gentle when they caught and dragged her to camp, either with their hands or their words. And, unfortunately, it had taken a bit too long for Ashe's survival instinct to kick back in and remind her to stay quiet, keep her head down, and do what they told her to. In her experience, the best way to survive Bad Men was to keep on their good side, as hard and sickening as that could be.

So she did, despite the pain and disgust.

"That is a fucking monster out there! Nothing we hit him with can put it down!" one raider swore as he held a dirty rag to a gapping, hole where his shoulder had been. When he pulled the makeshift bandage back, Ashe could see the stringy bits of bloody muscle hanging down and shards of white, splintered bone. Her stomach turned at the sight and it was only that fact she hadn't eaten in two days that kept her from throwing up.

"Must be something the Institute cooked up and turned loose," another, this one with an oozing head wound, said as he desperately searched the room.

'Dad!" Ashe's heart leapt.

She didn't doubt the man would be able to track her down -he had before- but she didn't think he'd been here so quickly. She'd been taken from the outskirts of Far Harbor and traveled two days by vehicle. Dad was a special man who could do all sorts of fantastical things, but could he travel all that distance on foot so quickly?

"That other guy got a couple of us too," the first raider said. "He doesn't seem all that special though. Nothing that a bullet through the skull wouldn't stop."

'A second man?' Ashe wondered, her heart already dropping. So it wasn't Dad then, he didn't have any friends here. He wasn't here. She was still alone.

But, Ashe couldn't help but wonder, if not her dad, then who was carrying these raiders so badly?

"Good, I radioed for back up and they'll be here soon. We just need to hold out until-"

BANG!

The room's metal door was blown open and, before anyone could react, that raider's head exploded in a red mess that splattered across the vent and wall. Ashe bit back a scream and scrambled away from the blood spraying toward her. She was just able to make out a massive blue form blur through the door and, after one, two, three loud bangs, three more dead bodies hit the floor. The last remaining Forged man rushed forward with an enraged yell, pulling a massive knife from his belt. The giant form paused long enough to side-step a wild swing, grab the raider's arm, and-.

Snap!

The man shrieked in pain as his arm broke, and he dropped the knife. The giant caught the knife and used it to slit the raider's throat. Blood sprayed across the giant's armor as the man's lifeless body slumped to the ground.

'A monster!' she thought, pressing herself as far back from the vent as possible. The dark blue armored giant attacking the Forged men was as scary as they were- maybe more. The toes of her bare foot brushed against a glass bottle and she nudged it away so it wouldn't make noise.

While Ashe would not weep for the raiders -not after all they'd done- the fact that the monster had killed all of them, even, it seemed, the ones outside, had her cowering in fear. After all, they were armed, trained killers, and he'd ripped through them in an instant, so what could he do to her?

"Clear!" its hoarse voice shouted.

A man came into view and Ashe very nearly let out a sigh of relief. While this second person was still armed, he at least was obviously a man.

He looked around at all the dead bodies and cocked an eyebrow at the monster. "No time wasted as usual Damon."

The giant -Damon?- cocked his head to the side, "Were you going to negotiate?"

The second man rolled his eyes, "Of course not. You can kill all the slavers you want, but it'll be harder to find out where their headquarters is if we don't have anyone to interrogate."

"Nate-", the massive armored… man said. "Search the damn room."

'What are they looking for?' Ashe wondered. She took a chance and inched closer, trying to hear better. Trying to get a better look at the two, she raised up on her toes and...

"Ah!" she hissed in pain as her twisted ankle gave out, pitching her forward. She caught herself on the wall, forehead knocking against the vent.

The giant froze before straightening up, hand going to his gun. "There's someone else here."

Ashe clamped her hands over her mouth and skidded back from the grate, sliding down the wall to the ground.

"What do you mean?"

"I heard someone."

"Are you sure it wasn't a rat or something?"

"No, it was a person."

Ashe fought back a shriek, curling herself into a ball as heavy footsteps lumbered closer to her location. 'He's going to kill me!'

"Damon?"

"There is a hole in this wall," the monster said. Clang! Clang! Clang! "Hollow."

Pushing herself as far from the hole as she could, Ashe looked around desperately. There was nowhere she could go and nothing she could use to-

Clink! Her toes brushed against cold glass.

'The bottle!' Ashe grabbed it by the neck, holding it in a deathgrip. It was better than nothing.

'I could try pushing out the vent cover and making a run for it,' she considered. The problem was that it was eye level with her so, even if she managed to push the cover away, she'd have a hard time climbing out. 'Maybe I could rush out between his legs when they get close? He is so big, I should be able to duck under him?. But could I dodge the other one?'

Rreeek!

Ashe shrieked as part of the metal wall was torn away, widening the hole into a large opening. She stared at the armor-clad hand in horror, even as she tried to ready herself to run.

"Okay, I definitely heard that!"

Ashe was only able to watch with wide eyes as the giant poked his massive head into the opening. His helmet looked so weird. The large, gold visor fixed itself on her. She screamed again as fear overrode every terrifying thought flying through her head. Ashe tried to scramble away, rushing forward to try and run past him. But she was too slow and an armor-clad hand clamped down on Ashe's upper arm in an unbreakable grip.

"Let me go!" she screamed as she was swept into the air. Her hurt ankle knocked against the torn wall, sending a sharp, fresh burst of pain shooting up her leg. "Ow!"

"Damon, she's hurt!" the second man said.

The giant's grip shifted as he turned to the room, pulling her toward him. She screamed again, kicking out against the monster holding her. All that got her was more pain in her injured ankle though, her feet bouncing ineffectively off of the monster's armor.

"Let! Me! Go!" she demanded.

The monster stared down at her and, when Ashe looked up at his head, she only saw her own reflection in the yellow-gold of his helmet's visor. She saw nothing human inside him -no eyes, no face, and no emotion at all, let alone gentleness.

Just then, she realized the glass bottle was still clutched in her hand.

"Damon!"

The giant's head turned toward the other man-

Crash!

"Ow!"

Ashe dropped the broken bottleneck, blood dripping from a fresh-cut down the side of her hand. The monster said nothing, broken bots of glass falling from the top of his head. His scary helmet turned back toward her.

'That didn't even hurt him!'

She heard a snort and looked over at the second man who looked like he was trying hard not to laugh. With an amused grin, he turned to the giant and said, "Careful, Damon, she probably bites too."

Wordlessly, the giant held her out to his friend. "Here, take her. I'll search the room."

Ashe's heart slowed just a bit when she was passed off to the smaller man, who pulled her close to his chest. He carried her to the far end of the room, setting her down in a torn-up chair.

"Hi there," he said, kneeling down in front of her. "My name is Nate, what's yours?"

"..."

"Alright then, I guess I can understand not wanting to talk. You must be pretty scared after everything but I promise, neither of us is going to hurt you," the man... Nate continued.

Ashe stayed silent, glancing over the man's shoulder in the direction of the giant. Nate followed her gaze and chuckled. "I know Damon looks scary but I promise, he isn't a bad guy. He helped save you, after all."

"Not on purpose," she said.

"...That's true," Nate agreed slowly. "But we did come here to wipe out some slavers and that should be worth something, right?"

He was a friendly-looking man, Ashe decided, with messy dark hair and a bit of a beard. His brown eyes looked warm, but sad too; he looked at Ashe like she reminded him of something. Nate also had a big nose, which made him look a little silly. She liked his face and what he said was true; from the conversation she overheard, the two were out to kill not only these slavers but the entire group.

"My name is Ashlyn," she said slowly. "Everyone calls me Ashe though."

"Ashe, huh? That's a nice name. Nate is a nickname too, short for Nathan." the man smiled. It only lasted a moment though, before Nate grew serious. "Alright, I know you probably don't want to, but can you tell me if these men hurt you?"

It was such a ridiculous question that Ashe almost giggled. Did the Bad Men hurt her? What else would they do?

"Yes."

Nate blinked at her, looking confused for a moment before growing grim once more. "Can you tell me where?"

"Lots of places," Ashe shrugged, shifting to avoid aggravating her burnt back. "I'll be fine though. The worst part is my ankle. I hurt that trying to run away from them; they didn't like that. It makes walking hard."

"And this?" Nate asked, his fingers hovering over the side of her bruised face with his eyes fixed on her split lip.

"One of them tried to hurt me more so I bit him. It was stupid, just made him angrier," she explained. "They tied me to the radiator after that."

Nate blinked slowly, taking a deep breath. He was quiet for a few seconds. "Thank you for telling me that. Is there anything else I should know about?"

"No, I don't think so. I wasn't with them that long-"

Snap!

Ashe jumped and even Nate looked startled. The monster looked down at the back of the crude wooden chair that had been reduced to splinters under his hand. But when she turned to Nate with wide, scared eyes, he smiled again.

"Would a Stimpak work?" the giant asked as he went back to looking around the room.

Nate cocked an eyebrow, looked over Ashe's bruised face, and nodded to himself. "It should. Just wait one second okay? I'll get you patched right up."

Ashe eyed the man suspiciously as he wrestled something out of his pack. So far, he hadn't done anything to make her think he'd hurt her but plenty of people had been nice to her at first only to later show their true colors. She only trusted one man these days and he wasn't here.

"Ah-ha, got one. Okay, Ashe, can I see your arm please?"

"No!"

Ashe dove from her seat, hitting the ground hard and further hurting her hands and knees. She fought back a whimper and crawled under a table.

"Hey- Ashe, it's okay", Nate said as he stood, startled. "It's just medicine, I promise."

She stared at the massive needle attached to a crude-looking tube and clock and shook her head. "How do I know for sure?"

Nate sighed and looked at his friend, "I'm not going to force her. That'll do more harm than good."

The giant looked at Ashe for a long time and she wished once more that she could see his face -if he even had one, that is. You could tell so much about someone by their eyes and, when those were hidden, someone might as well not even be human.

"...You could carry her," he said eventually.

Scratching his beard, Nate hummed in thought. "It'll slow me down in a fight... not that you need me. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it…"

He looked back to Ashe "Are you hungry? I'm guessing that these asssss- jerks didn't feed you much."

'Am I hungry?' Ashe wondered.

Yes, probably. She hadn't eaten in around two days, tossing any meat scraps and moldy bread the raiders had given back at them until they decided to just let her starve herself. Ashe didn't trust any food they'd give her not to be tainted or, well, human. Despite this, after knowing TRUE hunger for so long, the gnawing feeling in her gut was only a slight annoyance. The thirst was worse, giving her a headache that just wouldn't go away, but, while living with Mr. Kravos may have softened her up but Ashe was still a survivor -she refused to break from a group of raiders.

But Nate and... Damon?

"...A little bit," she admitted. Hesitantly, she crawled out from under that table. 'I trusted Mr. Kravos and it worked out. Maybe trusting Nate will work out too?'

Ashe still kept a close eye on both men though -she still couldn't be sure. "I'm thirsty too. I don't need much though. I don't want to be a burden."

Nate smiled and reached out, just for a moment before letting his hands drop, like he wanted to hug her. Ashe was glad he stopped himself, she wouldn't have let him. It had taken weeks before she let Mr. Kravos touch her any more that was absolutely necessary -not that he had tried.

'Why did he do that?' She wondered

"I understand you don't want a stimpak but will you at least let me patch you up?" he asked, nodding towards the bleeding cut on her hand.

'Huh, I forgot that was there,' she thought, watching blood drip down her wrist and forearm before splashing down on the dirty floor. Ashe bit her lip, watched Nate's face for any sign of a trick, and slowly held her arm out.

"There you go," Nate said, sitting back on his heels. He eyed his work and laughed, "You look like a little mummy."

'It was nice he finds this funny!' Ashe wrinkled her nose and frowned. Her split lip still stung from the stuff Nate had dabbed on it and her cuts. "What's a mummy? Is it like a mommy?"

"Uh, not really. They're basically people who died and got wrapped up in a bunch of bandages before being buried," the man explained. "...Not that you're dead, of course."

Ashe looked down at her bandaged ankle, swinging her feet. Nate had wrapped it tighter than Mr. Kravos ever had, using thin pieces of metal and sticks tucked into the bandages to create a makeshift splint. He'd wrapped up her cut hand too, after pouring a lot of sting-y stuff on it and while mumbling to himself that she probably needed stitches. She hadn't let him look at her back though, no matter how much Nate had asked, saying he was concerned about burns. Ashe wasn't worried though; her back hurt, yes, but there was no blood or blisters, so it couldn't be too bad.

"I'm only half wrapped up now, so I'm only half a mummy," she said. "I'd have to get hurt a lot worse to be a full mummy."

"Don't."

For being so big and covered in armor, Damon the Giant Monster was weirdly quiet when he wanted to be -both how he moved around and the fact that he just didn't seem to like talking. Or maybe he just wasn't good at it. Either way, if not for the sounds of stuff being moved around and Ashe always keeping at least one eye on him at all times, it would be easy to forget he was even there. It was just bizarre!

"Did you find anything that points to where the main camp is?" Nate asked his companion.

There was an audible frustrated sigh from inside the helmet and massive shoulders slumped ever so slightly. "No."

"Yeah, that's no surprise. Raiders aren't known for being the greatest of record keepers. Or literate," Nate said, grinding his teeth. "I told you we should have left at least one!"

"So I should apologize for keeping your a- you alive?" Damon the Giant Monster snapped back and, for the first time, Ashe was able to hear real emotion in his voice. "Maybe if you-"

"I know where it is."

Both men's heads snapped to look at Ashe in unison and she almost giggled. 'For two guys who fight a bunch, they're a lot alike.'

"Are you serious, Ashe?" Nate asked.

"Mmmhmm. I don't know exactly where it is but I've seen it marked on a map and I know what it is by," she explained.

"How?" Damon demanded.

Ashe fought the urge to cower or scowl when he looked down at her. She jutted out her chin and said, "I overheard them-" pointing to one of the dead bodies, still lying on the floor "-talking about going there soon. I saw the map they used to lead the way; one said that the boss doesn't trust GPS."

She shrugged, "I guess they didn't care if I heard saw. I bet they thought I'd never get a chance to tell anyone."

A look of disgust on his face, Nate scowled. "Smarter than the average scum then."

The giant shook his head. "Don't compliment them."

"I'm not!"

Frowning , Nate turned back to Ashe. "Do you remember which one had the map?"

"No, they all look alike to me... but I could probably mark it if you got another from the area!"

"Maybe-"

BOOM!

Everyone jumped at the sudden explosion. Nate wrapped an arm around Ashe and pulled her out of the chair and to the ground, shielding her with his body as he crouched. "What the he- heck was that?"

Ashe's eyes went wide and her stomach turned as the fear rushed back. "Back up!"

"What?"

"I'm sorry! I heard one say they called for back!"

Damon the Giant Monster glared at her. At least, it was what she imagined he was doing. "You didn't remember?"

His voice was calm -tight and unhappy, but calm. Way too calm- there were more raiders coming!

"You scared me so much that I forgot!" she yelled back as the sound of engines flooded the air.

"Look, it doesn't matter now!" Nate said. "We need to get out of here!"

"...Stay with her," Damon said, starting to stand up.

"Wait!"

He paused and, once more, Ashe found herself staring into the unfeeling, blank visor. She took a deep breath, "There is a way out through the basement. I overheard them talking about it. We can get out that way."

With the smallest nod of this head, the giant turned back to Nate. "Take her out. I'll follow."

"But-"

"VEN GAAR NOS!"

The sound of the strange words cut right through the air, unhindered by walls or distance. They rattled around in Ashe's skull, so loud that covering her ears did nothing to quiet them. Despite this, her heart leapt; though she'd never heard those particular words, she knew what they had to mean.

"He's here!"

BOOM!

The sound of gunfire and explosions started, along with screaming. Damon was on his feet faster than Ashe could blink, he grabbed one of the tables scattered around the room and effortlessly dragged it to the entrance. He flipped it upward and propped it up against the door as a makeshift barricade. Almost as soon as he stepped away, something started pounding against it.

"Time to leave," he said.

"Please! Please hel-AKKK!"

The screaming was getting louder now, people were begging for their lives. Ashe could only imagine what was going on out there. A living nightmare, from the sounds of it.

'Dad is also so nice and gentle with me. That's all that matters,' she reminded herself. Her Dad was way more dangerous than Papa but she'd never be scared of him like she would her former father. 'They're Bad Men, it doesn't matter what-'

"Ashe? Ashe, we need to know how to get into the basement!" Nate said, holding her shoulder.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Ashe nodded and did her best to block out the screaming, "Oh... right! This way!"

She stumbled in the direction of the hatch in the corner of the room, ignoring the pain in her ankle. The hatch was heavy, Ashe grabbed the handle and pulled it as hard as she could to no avail. After a second of her struggling, Damon wordlessly reached around her and easily flipped the heavy steel door aside . Before she could even consider thanking him, Nate swooped her up in his arms and hopped down the stairs two at the time with Damon close behind them.

"Nate, do you have any grenades left?" he asked.

The banging on the front door had gotten louder, more desperate, and Ashe didn't know how much longer the makeshift barricade would hold. She could smell smoke too, thick and gut-wrenchingly awful. Would the flames be able to reach them? God, what if she was wrong about a second entrance down here?

Nate balanced Ashe on one of his hips, freeing up a hand to yank something out of his bag. He tossed it over to his friend, "I was saving it for a special occasion."

"This counts," the giant man grunted, still standing half-down the stairs. Ashe was about to ask what he was doing when there was a loud BANG! of the front door being knocked down.

The giant man waited for one, two, three seconds before pulling the pin from the grenade and tossing it into the room. Quick as a flash, he ducked down, pulling the hatch close. He held it shut, his massive, armored back braced against it.

BOOM!

Ashe stifled a scream but Damon just cleared the rest of the steps in a jump, heading down the tunnel the basement narrowed into. "Let's go."

The tunnel was short, maybe fifty yards long, and let out into what must have been a dumping ground of broken, rusted machinery and overgrown scraggy bushes. This was lucky because it provided the small group convenient cover from the raiders who were still scattered around the small building. The good news is that they were too distracted to notice them, too busy firing wildly at three fiery figures that were floating around. Even from here, Ashe could smell the thick, greasy smoke that only came from burning human meat.

"Who are they fighting?" Nate wondered.

"Not who,'" Damon said. "What."

Ashe stayed silent. Would they even understand if she told them? But she also couldn't just risk Dad attacking Nate and Damon because he didn't know they'd save her.

"I think-"

FUS RO DAH!

BOOM!

"There it is again!" Nate said, ducking down. "I've never heard anything like that before!"

Damon shook his head, "We need to move."

"No!" Ashe shouted, she couldn't just leave! She needed to get back to her dad! She started squirming, trying to get out of Nate's arms. "I need to stay!"

Nate struggled to hold onto her, grunting as the heel of her good foot dug into his gut. "Ashe, what are you doing?"

"You know who it is?" Damon asked, though it wasn't really a question.

Ashe nodded quickly, "Yeah, it's my- AHHH!"

She screamed as a large white and red-colored figure slammed into Damon's side. The giant stumbled as whatever it was latched onto him and tried to bite at his neck. By the time Ashe's brain caught up with her eyes and realized what she was looking at, the giant threw the figure off and whipped around to confront her. Unafraid, Rena rolled to her feet, her massive furry body dropping into a low, aggressive stance. Poised to pounce again, her green eyes flashed with bloodlust as she growled. With her chest and muzzle covered in blood, lips pulled back to reveal rows of sharp fangs, and all her fur standing on end, the dog was a terrifying sight.

Damon the Giant Monster was unimpressed though. He lifted his gun, ready to shoot Ashe's best friend.

"No!" Ashe shrieked, tears already starting to roll down her face. "Don't hurt her!"

The giant hesitated, just long enough for-

"ZUN HAAL VIIK!"

Damon's gun was ripped from his hands by an invisible force and, before it could hit the ground, something yanked him flying backward out of view.

"Damon!" Nate shouted.

The sight of his friend flying through the air distracted him just enough that he didn't notice Rena had turned her attention to him.

"Umpf!"

Rena tackled Nate to the ground; the three of them -Nate, Rena, and Ashe- all in a giant pile. Ashe hissed in pain but didn't have a chance to regain her senses before there was a grip on her clothes, pulling her away from the man. It took her a moment to realize that Rena bit down on Ashe's dress collar and was tugging her through the dirt, back into the tunnel.

"Stop! Stop, girl!" she cried.

The dog didn't obey her, didn't even react to her command. This, in and of itself, wasn't entirely unusual, Rena was well-trained but a little too intelligent to mindlessly obey commands. In the months Ashe had lived with Rena and Dad, she'd come to appreciate that the dog could think, plan, reason, and understand of her own accord. Still, to not react at all was strange. Ashe tried to struggle to her feet unsuccessfully, fingers wrapped tight into Rena's white fur. It was only when there was no further to go that Rena did finally stop, releasing Ashe's collar.

"Ow," she mumbled, reaching down to brush some dirt off her skirt. She jumped when something cold and damp pressed against her ear. "Ah!"

Rena was on her instantly, licking her face with a thick layer of doggy drool. Ashe couldn't help but laugh even as tears started to pool at the corner of her eyes and the pooch's rough tongue scraped at her bruises and split lip.

"I missed you too, girl!" she cried, wrapping her arms around Rena's furry neck. Dad is here too, right?"

The dog let out a happy yip, wagging her tail excitedly.

"Great, we can go home then! I can't wa-"

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

Ashe was cut off by another loud growl as Rena's body once more became tense and tight, her fur puffing up. She looked down the tunnel, ears back, before slinking over into a corner of the room, ducking down to hide among the crates and barrels. Ashe attempted to follow but, before she could take the first step in that direction, Rena gave another short growl -telling her to stay put in the center of the room.

"But-"

Nate appeared in the enclosure's entrance aiming his gun around the room. Recognition, and relief, crossed his face in a small smile, but he was still tense.

"Ashe", he called, looking everywhere but her, "what's going on-" He edged into the room and caught sight of Rena, crouched in the corner nearest him, ready to pounce.

"Wait!" Ashe screamed. "Don't hurt her!"

Rena leaped through the air at him.

'Oh no! Please don't hurt her.'

Nate's gun was pointed straight at her friend, but instead of shooting, he dropped to the ground as Rena sailed over him.

"What do you mean 'don't hurt her'?" he shouted as he jumped back up. The Lakeview Shepard was already rounding on him.

"She's my friend- she's here to protect me!"

Tears of desperation were already welling up in her eyes. She was so happy Dad and Rena were there for her, but now she didn't know what to do! Nate and Damon the Giant Monster were both trying to help too -Damon might be scary but she didn't want him to die!

Nate glanced at her-

And that was all the time Rena needed. The massive white dog pounced on her temporary protector.

"Shit!" Nate brought his arm up to protect his face from her massive fangs and shouted in pain as they tore into his skin. They hit the dirt, Rena on his chest, jaws still locked around his arm. Nate punched her in the side of the head hard enough to draw out a quiet whimper, but the ferociously protective dog didn't let go.

So he reached for his gun.

"Stop! Stop!" Ashe screamed again. "Don't hurt her!"

"Hurt her?!"

Nate slammed his rifle into the side of Rena's head, and this time, the Lakeview Shepard released her hold on his arm with a full blown yelp.

"Tell her to get the hell off me then!"

Before Ashe could say anything, her best friend recovered and let out a vicious snarl before going for his throat.

"No, Rena! Don't! Nate is my friend!"

This time the dog did listen to her, pulling away at the last second -though still snarling and pinning the man down. Nate swallowed hard, "Thanks."

He eyed the still snarling animal on his chest. "So who is this?"

"Rena", Ashe replied. "She is my friend. She protects me."

"Ah, I see." He looked away from the dog and put his gun back down . "Hi, Rena. I'm Nate. I was thinking, two is better than one, right? So maybe we can both protect Ashe.

Rena relaxed ever so slightly.

"That's right, Rena. Nate helped me too, just like you and Dad," Ashe pleaded, pulling at Rena's fur. "Please don't hurt him."

With that, Rena cocked her head before leaning down again to sniff at Nate's face. The man held still as she sniffed around his neck, face, ears, and the top of his head.

The man stayed still for the investigation but he looked over at Ashe and said, "Uh, I don't suppose you could ask your dog to get off of me? She is a little heavy."

Ashe shook her head, "She only listens to me when she wants to."

"Oh, that's great. Absolutely-ugh!"

Rena licked the man's face, covering him from chin to the hairline with slobber. Ashe giggled, "That means she likes you."

The dog got off of Nate, letting him sit up.

"Your arm," Ashe said, staring at the blood seeping from the bite wound.

Nate gave her a smile, "Don't worry... It- it looks worse than it is."

She watched as blood ran down his arm, dripping off and pooling on the ground, and frowned, "You're lying."

By her side, Rena let out a whine and nuzzled against Nate's side, licking his arm. Ashe grabbed a section of her long, torn skirt, ripping a piece out. 'Sorry, Dad. I ruined another dress.'

She held out the scrap of cloth, "Here, use this to stop the bleeding."

"Oh, thanks." Nate held it to the bite, mopping up as much blood as he could. Above them, the sounds of gunfire and explosions still sounded. He looked upward and frowned, "Ashe, can you tell me what the hell is going on? Do you really know who is out there?"

Ashe bit her lip, wondering what she should say. Dad wasn't exactly secretive about the things he could do, at least recently, but was she allowed to tell others?

"Ashe?"

Slowly, she nodded. "Yeah, it's my dad. He's... special."

"Well, that's- Wait, did you say that's your dad out there?"

"Yeah."

"Shit!" Nate swore, eyes going wide. "You and the dog wait here. I'll be right back!"

Without another word, Nate took off down the tunnel at full speed. "Damon! Stop killing people for a second, you psycho!"

He vanished from sight, his voice fading out. Once he was gone, Ashe turned to Rena and asked, "We're going after him, right?"

"Woof!"

Rena tucked her head under Ashe's arm, supporting her as the girl half-ran, was half-dragged back out of the tunnel. Back out in the sun, she nearly choked. There was more fire now, much of the dead grass and scraggly bushes having been burned away and clouds of thick gray smoke being carried away by the wind. More than that, nearly anything that had been standing was now either in a bunch of pieces or... just a hole in the ground. Following the shouting, Ashe nearly burst out into tears when she saw Nate -still yelling- and standing in between Damon and-

"DAD!"

She threw herself at the man who'd saved her over and over again. Strong arms swooped her up and held her close. Ashe wrapped her arms tight around her dad's neck, burying her face in the man's neck and fighting back the tears.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed. "I'm so sorry! It's all my fault! I messed up again!"

"Oh, think nothing of it, sweetheart," Dad said, smoothing a hand down her hair. "It was not your sins that brought us here. I'm just so happy to have you back. You're safe now."

Ashe just clung to him tighter. She felt Rena's nose press against her ankle and heard Dad chuckle. "I see you completed your mission with your usual effectiveness, girl. Well done, as usual."

Rena let out a yip and Ashe would swear she sounded smug.

"You can say that," Nate mumbled, holding his bleeding arm again. At the sound, Ashe lifted her head to blink at him and Damon, both of whom were standing around watching the reunion awkwardly.

"Oh, yes." Dad shifted Ashe to his hip so he could more clearly address the two men. Ashe was shocked to see that he didn't look to be in great shape either. His nose looked busted, blood dripping down his face and into his beard, among other injuries.

'Was Damon able to hurt him that badly?' she wondered. She didn't know anyone was capable of hurting her father.

"I see that there was a misunderstanding," Dad said, nodding his head to the two men. "I apologize for my rashness; I'm afraid being separated from my family made me rather... single-minded. I am Kravos Redwind, and thank you for protecting my daughter."

Damon, as usual, said nothing, and Ashe took note of the fine layer of soot and dirt smudges that covered his armor. Nate, however, gave a nod and said, "We were happy to do it. We never need an excuse to kill some raiders, right? But, uh, what are those?"

He pointed to the trio of fiery figures hovering near the group. Ashe recognized them, both from when Dad had saved her and the others from the slavers and pictures in the books. 'Flame atro- atronachs. Yeah, that's it.'

"Pay no mind to them," Dad said and, with a snap of his fingers, the three figures dissipated into a smoldering embers. He turned back to Nate and Damon, "I suppose we have much to discuss."

"Yeah, I guess we-"

"Gurrrrrr!"

All eyes turned to Ashe, who blushed as her stomach growled loudly.

Kravos laughed and looked at the group, "Is anyone hungry?"

The sun had set into a dark wash of red and orange over the now empty battlefield, a chill settling over the ground kept at bay only by the roaring fire Dad had created.

"Here, I got more wood," Ashe said, holding out the bundle of twigs and sticks gathered in her arms.

"Good girl," Dad smiled, looking up from the piece of wood he was absentmindedly carving. "Toss it in. Try to keep it to the right side of the fire though, we need to keep that side low for cooking."

A cooking pot hung next to a small pale of water above low flames and burning embers, and, when Ashe peaked in, she saw it was filled with chopped-up vegetables, shredded herbs, and cuts of salted meat all in a bubbling dark broth. It didn't look nearly as good as all the dinners Dad cooked at home but, considering how hungry she was, Ashe's mouth watered at the smell of it.

"You certainly look better," Dad noted. "How do the clothes fit?"

"Good, the pants are a little long but I'll grow into them," she said, tugging at the hem of the long-sleeved blue shirt she'd changed into.

As soon as he'd been able to, Dad had pulled Ashe away to heal her wounds -barely restrained anger burning in his blue eyes as he did so- and presented her with some clean clothes. Ashe wished she could have had a bath but knew better to complain about something no one could change, so she enjoyed the sponge bath as much as possible. She felt clean now, in more ways than one.

"Where is Rena?" she asked. While it wasn't odd for the dog to wander -as loyal as she was, Rena had her independence and enjoyed a bit of 'quiet time,' as Dad called it- she liked to stay close after trouble, keeping an eye on her charges.

The old man chuckled and nodded his head in the direction of Nate and Damon. "Oh, I think she wanted to play around with our new friends."

"Why?"

"I believe she likes them," Dad shrugged. "Or perhaps she just likes the idea of more admirers?"

"She did seem to like Mr. Nate," Ashe agreed, remembering how quickly Rena had cuddled up to and comforted the injured man.

You know, once she got done trying to kill him.

"And you? Did you like him?" Dad asked, cocking his head. He had a way of staring at Ashe like he could read her mind. Usually, she liked this; it made her feel like the man could understand all the thoughts and feelings she wasn't able to put into words. This wasn't one of those times though -he wanted her to speak.

"I... guess so," she said slowly. "He was nice and tried to protect me from Rena, even though he didn't know what was going on. But..."

"But?" Dad prompted her to continue.

"But... when he looks at me, he's sad about something," she finished. "I think he's missing someone."

Dad gave a slow nod, "I imagine that is the case for many in this world. What about the other one -Damon? What do you think about him?"

The look on her face must have said enough because Dad laughed. "That bad?"

A pang of guilt hit Ashe's heart and she frowned, looking at the ground. "No... He helped me too, even if he didn't mean to at first."

"You say that and yet-" a strong yet gentle hand lifted her chin so Ashe was looking her father in the eyes. "-you still don't like him. Ashlyn, if you don't trust them then there is nothing more to be discussed. We can leave right now."

"You don't have to be a Bad Man to do bad things," she said, softly. "But I don't think Mr. Damon will try to hurt us, and I want to help them with something. I said I would and now I have to keep my promise. Mr. Damon is big and strong and mean. He scares me, but he and Nate did save me so I've got to help them too."

In Ashe's experience, there wasn't much good left in the world -none that existed naturally anyway. Maybe it existed in abundance at some point and it still exists in the world Dad was from, but it was long gone in the Commonwealth. But Mama had been good! And, until the day she died, Mama had believed in goodness in others, despite having experienced little of it for herself. Dad was good too, and always went out of his way to help others.

And, if they could be good, then so could Ashe. She just had to choose to do so.

'That starts now. If I help Nate and Damon get rid of a bunch of Bad Men, then I'll be doing good.'

"He is definitely strong," Dad agreed with another nod.

Ashe frowned, "How could you tell?"

The old man grinned at her, a little wilder than his usual warm, gentle smiles, and Ashe noticed he hadn't quite managed to scrub all the blood from his beard. "We had a good little fight. It's been a long time since I was thrown around like that!"

"You won though, right?"

Dad just winked and nodded towards the two men. "Would you mind telling those two that supper is ready?"

Ashe huffed at the misdirect and rolled her eyes as she walked away. It was also so annoying when Dad played all secretive like that. He'd obviously won; no one could beat her dad.

Nate and Damon had settled in the dumping ground at the mouth of the tunnel entrance, close enough to still be in view but far enough away that they'd still have privacy. As Ashe got closer, she saw them resting by a smaller fire. Rena was there, sitting in front of Damon and staring up at him pleadingly.

"...It's staring at me," she heard Damon say, taking a step back from Rena... only for the dog to close the gap once more.

When she heard him, Ashe ducked behind a rusted old barrel and waited. While Mama always told her that it was wrong to eavesdrop, it was a skill that kept her alive many times. She'd be truthful with Dad when she'd said that Damon wouldn't hurt them, but you could never be too careful.

"She wants you to pet her, Damon," Nate said, massaging his forearm.

"Why?"

Nate shrugged, "She's a dog, it's what they do."

"This dog ripped the throats out of at least six raiders," Damon pointed out, trying -unsuccessfully- to step around Rena. "It's not some house pet."

The shorter man snorted and, taking pity on his friend, slapped his thigh. He gave a sharp whistle, "Come here, girl!"

Rena looked up at Damon and gave a final low, pleading whine before trodding off to someone who'd be more appreciative of her attention.

'Jerk,' Ashe thought. 'Why doesn't he like Rena? She's so sweet!'

"That's a good girl," Nate said, scratching Rena behind the ears. The pooch barked, nuzzling her massive white furry head against his chest. "You're just a big lapdog, aren't you?"

Damon cocked his head. "She almost killed you."

"You almost killed me!" Nate replied.

At those words, Ashe clamped a hand down over her mouth to smother a squeak. Damon almost killed his friend? Why? Was she wrong about trusting him?

"If I'd really tried then you'd be dead," the giant said simply.

"Well, at least she never shot me." Rena licked Nate's cheek and he rubbed her under the chin, "And she is much cuter than you. Maybe you could take lessons from- erg!"

At his pained grunt, Rena immediately hopped back from her attempt to climb into Nate's lap. She nuzzled the arm she'd bumped too hard into, providing what comfort she could. The man scratched her ears again, "It's okay, girl. Just a little sore."

'The bite,' Ashe realized.

There was the smallest, almost indiscernible change in Damon's stance. "Problem?"

"No, she just bumped against where I injected the stimpak," Nate said, flexing his arm. "I just wish we didn't have to use one, it seemed like such a waste."

"Dog bites get easily infected. If you hadn't then you could have lost your arm. Or died. Painfully."

"Aw, you do care!"

"I don't want the hassle of burying your corpse."

'They're weird friends,' Ashe thought. 'Why do they fight all the time? Do they actually hate each other? Maybe that's why Damon shot Nate. But, if that's why, then why are they still around one another? And Damon is worried about Nate's arm, why pretend he's not?'

Before she could think about this anymore, Damon jerked his head in her direction. "We have a visitor."

Ashe jumped back in surprise so quickly that she slipped, falling out of her hiding place. Rena let out a yip and bounded to her side, nuzzling Ashe's ear. Before she could get to her feet, Ashe felt herself being lifted up and righted. When she looked up, the emotionless, yellow-gold visor was the only thing staring back.

"Be careful," Damon grunted.

As she stared into the giant's helmet Ashe could only see her own reflection, she couldn't help but wonder what the face underneath it looked like.

'If he actually has one,' she thought. Ashe still wasn't entirely sure that Damon wasn't actually a robot.

"Ashe, do you need something?" Nate asked.

"No- I mean, yes. Dad wants me to tell you dinner is ready," she explained with a smile. "I hope you're hungry. Dad is a really good cook!"

"A hot meal does sound nice," Nate said. "Damon?"

"Time to get answers then. Let's go."