Perry stood before the Citadel but was apprehensive about entering. Every step brought him closer to Sarah who despite everything Perry had faced and defeated now seemed like the most terrifying creature in existence. How quaint.

Perry stood alone. Fawkes had returned to the Library to collect his possessions and was going to meet him at Megaton the next day. Perry had a plan now, a direction that he had decided. No more taking orders, no more simply drifting from one problem to the next.

It was time to take control.

Taking a deep breath and ignoring the still present headache from the Deathclaw, he entered the Citadel. Immediately he was greeted by Paladins who Perry simply gave a brief nod of acknowledgement before walking further towards the Den. The next thing he knew, he stood before the closed door of the Lyon's Pride briefing room. The guards saluted.

"Apologies Sir, but the Pride are discussing battle plans at the moment and asked that no one be allowed to enter."

Perry turned his vacant gaze towards the guard and simply said "Make an exception."

The guard stood straighter and responding noticeably quieter "Well… I suppose you are a member of the Pride. Yes, go right ahead Sir."

Perry entered the room without another word.

Sarah stood before a map of the Capitol Wasteland and was highlighting locations. "Our first drop zone with the package will be vault 87, that's their breeding grounds. Projected wind patterns will spread the virus east but unfortunately will not make it across to Washington D.C." She turned around and noticed Perry. At that moment she was tempted to stall the briefing but decided against it. She continued as if she didn't notice him. "In order to make up for this, we have decided upon 3 drop locations in and around Washington D.C. In the event we encounter heavy resistance, we have designed gas grenades filled with the virus. We do not know how fast the virus will spread or even how far. But we are the Lyon's Pride and we will be prepared, no matter the outcome. Dismissed."

Each Knight and Paladin stood from their chairs and filed out. All of them knew of Perry's presence as soon as he entered the room, but they knew better than to get distracted while Sarah was speaking. A few gave him a respectful nod and Colvin even gave him a pat on the shoulder as he passed. None of them said a word.

Eventually the only people left were Sarah and Perry. Neither spoke, they instead sized each other up. Sarah noticed something was different about Perry. It was his eyes. The difference was subtle but there was definitely a change there. She decided she had to break the silence… again.

"Did you find your father?"

"I did."

Waiting for a response she asked "And?"

"I cremated his body. Seemed like the right thing to do."

Sarah nodded in understanding. "Glad to hear it." She walked from the front of the room and stood in front of Perry. "Have you made a decision?"

"I did." Perry turned away from Sarah and took a few steps to put some distance between them. He spoke instead to the wall. "I'm leaving."

Perry didn't dare look at Sarah, he didn't have the courage. There was silence for a moment.

"Wha…what? Leaving?"

Perry didn't say anything. He crossed his arms and continued to ignore Sarah's gaze.

"But why? Where are you going?" She was going to wait for an answer but she was getting extremely sick of him looking away. His stance was annoying her, his armour started to annoy her, his messy hair annoyed her. Suddenly everything about him was just pissing her off. "You have responsibilities here Perry! You are a part of this Brotherhood and you will damn well help it! I don't care what your reasons are, you will fall in line!"

Perry slowly turned and finally faced Sarah. Bluntly he responded "No."

She had not expected this. Everything she knew about Perry told her he would accept. She had never trusted anyone as much as she trusted him. He was always willing to help, always willing to make things better no matter the cost. Why was he leaving the Brotherhood… why was he leaving her?

Something stirred inside Sarah, it was the same feeling she had when she fought. Fury.

She took a step towards him and tried to make herself sound as threatening as possible. "If you leave I will kill you."

"You would fail."

Sarah didn't say anything. She knew he was right. She glared at him, trying to match whatever look Perry was giving her in response. It was then she became aware of something, his eyes spoke of things she wasn't aware of yet. They seemed to say that he wanted to tell her something but he was just waiting for her to relax.

Whatever he wanted to say it was not something he could do while she was angry at him. Her curiosity got the better of her. Taking a step back, Sarah turned around. She took slow deep breathes to calm the fire in her veins. She was acting like a rejected teenager, it was time to shape up and be the soldier she was raised to be.

With a final exhale she faced the Lone Wanderer again; her stare told Perry that she was relaxed.

"Sarah, you've lived your whole life being guided by your father and this Brotherhood. You have always had a purpose, a goal. But more than that, you have never been alone." Perry took a step towards Sarah and let his cold exterior fall. "Do you have any idea what it's like to loose your only link to others? Would you be able to live knowing that you could never let another person into your soul? That you would always be a closed book, a locked door, alone and isolated in a room full of friends. You would be with others but up here," Perry tapped his temple "You would always be alone."

He began to pace in front of her, his words rushed out of his mouth like his venting was something he was only just realizing. "I travelled this entire Wasteland looking for a purpose, I thought I found it again when I rescued my father only to have him taken from me again. I've helped this Wasteland in every way I can but now…" he turned and saying directly to Sarah. "What is left for me? After everything I've done, every person I saved, every raider I killed, every settlement I protected… I'm left with nothing. No one."

Perry's tone became darker. "I have done more for this land than the entire Brotherhood ever has. Then you ask me about marriage, to live in an empty partnership of convenience… just for the publicity." Perry took a step closer to Sarah, his words were slow and cold once more. "I am sick of this place. I am tired of always being the one who has to make the sacrifices. I'm doing this for me, and nothing you say will change my mind."

Sarah said nothing, she had just witnessed a side of Perry she never knew existed; a darkness that seemed to mix with the goodness. She had always thought that Perry was the only wastelander to not fall prey to the evils of the wastes. But he did fall, he did loose that fight. He had only been directing it to help others. But with everything going so well there was nothing left to unleash that darkness upon except for those close to him. He needed enemies; Sarah did not want to count herself among them.

She couldn't deny him now.

Her gaze drifted down to the floor, she felt so ashamed for asking so much of him. She couldn't bare it. She immediately turned and stormed out of the Den leaving Perry behind. She headed directly for her quarters and slammed the door behind her. Confusion, guilt, anger, so many emotions seemed to inhabit her heart that it felt like it was fit to bursting. She wanted to hit something but all she could do was stand alone in her room and stare into nothing.

After a few minutes she could hear the door open. She was tempted to scream at whoever entered to leave but instead did nothing. She was expecting her father, but instead a gentle metal hand rested on her shoulder. The colour was unmistakable. The figure drew close behind her but was moving slowly, like it was careful not to upset her further. She didn't know why she did it, but at that moment all the pent up emotions took control and she turned and kissed the Lone Wanderer. Passion took control and it did not let go til morning.

Perry sat on the edge of the bed looking down at the floor. Sarah was lying asleep on the bed. He wasn't sure how it happened; it just happened. That was the first time it had not been a conscious decision, even now he wasn't even sure what the whole thing meant. Was it love? Stress relief? Had he finally learnt how to let someone in by simply letting go?

Whatever it was, it was going to be the last time. Perry had said he was leaving, but he never told her where. Even he didn't know where, no one does. At least while they're alive… everyone finds out eventually.

Blackhawk was in Perry's hand, he was tired… so very tired. He was tired of this wasteland, he was tired of the Brotherhood, he was tired of being alone… he was tired of himself.

He raised the gun up; soon he will stop being tired. Soon he will finally be able to rest. He pressed the barrel against his temple…

There was a flash; someone had pushed his hand down away from his temple. Everything was blackness… except for a glowing being before him. The one that stopped him. He looked up, there was the familiar face. Same beard, same grayish hair, same calming eyes. He had a sad smile on his face, disappointment? No… worry. Those eyes said that he would never be disappointed in him, he would always be proud of him. Not just of what he has done, but who he was. A good person.

Perry was lost in those eyes. They seemed to envelop his whole world. In them he could see things, things yet to be. Rolling fields of green, blue skies, thriving towns. Safety. Because of him.

Standing in the field was a figure dressed in his armour. A woman. She watched over this land in his place. She has his eyes. People will always say she has his eyes. Alexa.

The image seemed to disappear into the distance, he felt like he was being pulled back.

Perry opened his eyes and felt the gun still pressed against his temple. He was sweating profusely. What just happened?

He slowly lowered the gun; his bones seemed to creak from the effort. The room seemed so quiet, the only noise being the gentle breathing of Sarah on the bed… But no, not just Sarah. There was another being there now. A part of him. His legacy.

He stood up and quietly approached Sarah's desk. He sat down and using only the light of his pipboy wrote a letter for Sarah to find. Once he was done he dressed in his armour, all except his helmet and gloves. He stroked Sarah's hair and smiled when she hummed but surprisingly she turned around and smiled up at him.

They looked into each other. Was he supposed to say something?

No, there are no words left to say.

He pulled his gloves on and grabbing his remaining gear he walked towards the door, he looked back one last time. Sarah was sitting up on her side watching him go. The moment seemed to last forever. As does every final moment. Perry faced the door, stepped through and was gone.

A/N: If you're looking forward to more chapters then don't worry, I have more to write about. The title is actually a song that inspired this scene in my head, so this isn't actually the ending. If I had the know-how I would have made a video of this scene with the music as it brings across the feelings I want to convey. I'm not entirely sure I do a satisfactory job of that using only text. But hopefully you'll enjoy it regardless.

Thanks for reading and as always reviews are appreciated.