I find Dizzy on top of a tall hill on the edge of town. When we were little, we'd come to this hill and watch the sunset. Dad and mom would come, too, and dad would tell us stories about the stars. It overlooks the entire town, the gardens, grass, homes and animals. Dizzy, for some reason, always retreated here when she felt lonely. When the world didn't make sense, and things began to change. Times, like now. I look at her from the bottom of the hill, as she sits on top of it. Her back is to me, and she's curled into a small, meek ball. The stars light up the night sky, in a way romantic lovers would swoon at. The moon is bright, and far away, casting a shadow across everything. I smile at Dizzy's silhouette, happy she ran here, and nowhere else.

Slowly, I climb the hill. Dizzy makes no movement to turn around, and I suspect she doesn't want to. She doesn't want to acknowledge the fact that again, her brother chased her. Taking a seat beside her, Dizzy has her head pressed into her knees.

"Diz?"

She sniffs, muffled by her legs.

"Go away."

I smirk at her, even if she can't see it. I can't pretend to understand what she's going through right now. But, against the backdrop of a clear, warm, beautiful night, I can't help but feel peaceful. Leaning back on my palms, I look at my sister and try to make sense of the world for her.

"…Mom and dad should have told you sooner."

"Shut up."

"Diz, you can talk to me."

"No, I can't."

She picks up her head and looks at me. I see her tear-stained face, and it hits me. She feels betrayed by not just our parents, but me. The smile fades from my face, and I look away from her. I wanted so much, to earn her trust again. Wanted us to be close like we use to. I should have known, that was nothing more than a stupid pipe dream.

"You kept it from me just like they did."

"…I know."

"I thought I could talk to you about anything."

"You can."

"Not anymore. What else are you hiding? What else is there I don't know?"

I should tell her. Should tell her where I come from. But I can't. It wells up and sticks like an uncomfortable lump in my throat. I push myself off of my palms, and lean forward with my hands in my lap.

"…There…isn't anything else."

It's a blatant lie, but at this point, she won't ever find out. She won't…discover the truth about me. Somehow, I think that's best. I think it's better, she doesn't know the last bit of dirty laundry we have. After all, when it comes time to go our separate ways, it's better she still thinks of me as her brother, and not a freak of nature.

"Why didn't you tell me? Why did you keep it from me? I thought…I could trust you. My entire life…has been one big stupid lie."

"No, Diz, it hasn't. Knowing mom and dad's past doesn't change anything."

"Yes it does."

I raise an eyebrow as I look at her.

"How so?"

Frustrated, she wipes tears from her eyes. Her beauty in this pale moonlight, overthrows me. I'm forced to look away from her. I can't…stand to see her in such a distress.

"Because now…now I know. I know, where these urges to run and be wild come from. I thought I was a freak. I thought I was born and raised by two regular people. But I wasn't. I wasn't. I knew I was special, different, but I didn't know how, and now this? This…explains everything."

"Shouldn't that be a good thing, then?"

She shakes her head.

"No. It isn't, because…I didn't want to find out this way. I didn't want mom and dad to shelter me. They let me think I was some sort of freak of nature. That these feelings of wanting to see the world, that these ambitions were wrong. I've…always had the urge to…run away and find out everything. I just didn't know, it was because it was in my blood."

"They were trying to protect you."

"From what? And why me? Why not you, too?"

"They made a lot of enemies. If anyone found out who you were…you'd be in danger. And…I guess you and not me because…I'm just a boy, is all."

I'm trying to be as honest with her as I possibly can. But without letting on to who I really am, it's hard.

"…I thought…mom and dad…met by chance and fell in love. I didn't know dad was a contract killer."

"That part is hard to digest, I won't lie."

"I didn't know he was brute strength and skill. That's where I get it from. Why I'm stronger than most girls. I…didn't know and…all this time I thought I was…a freak."

"You're not a freak, Dizzy. You're the offspring of the two strongest people in the Capital Wasteland. I know that this is hard for you, but you should feel so proud of it. Because mom and dad saved this stupid land for you."

"…You're their offspring, too."

No. No, I'm not. But I…still can't find it in me to tell her. Looking at her, I watch fresh tears well in her eyes. It hurts me, to see her in so much pain, but I know there's nothing I can do.

"I thought you were different, too. That...I don't know. I can't explain it. That you were…I don't know."

I never want to see her unhappy. Wrapping my arms around her, I pull her close to me. I hold her, as she sobs.

"I…I thought you were…that we…I don't know…I don't know anything anymore…"

I should have known this would happen. Dizzy, seems to always have had some sort of feeling or notion that I wasn't who I claimed to be. But with mom and dad omitting that part from their story, she has nothing to lean on. All she can do, is accept that I'm her sibling. I think…really, she's more upset about that than anything else.

"It'll be alright, Dizzy."

Her small hands wrap around my shirt, as her weight is placed on the tail of my jacket. Lifting her head, she looks at my face with bleary eyes.

"…I can't stay here."

I understand. I know, now that since she knows the truth, Dizzy will want to find her own place in the Capital Wasteland, just like mom and dad did. She'll want to find where she belongs, even if she belongs back in Megaton, she has to find it out on her own. It's time for me to let my little sister go, and it's time to let go all of the feelings I've kept inside of me for so long. I find tears in my own eyes, as I hug her again, holding her close. I want to hide my face from her, but it hurts. It hurts me, to know that by this time tomorrow, she might just be gone. I knew this would come, I just hoped it wouldn't be so soon.

"Mom and dad…they'll let you go now."

"How do you know?"

She says as she lifts her head.

"…Because they will. You're a woman now, Dizzy. You're more than capable of doing it, now that you know the truth. You'll be safer, stronger, knowing that two of the lands best fighters are your parents."

There's light in her eyes, as she realizes now the whole world is laid out for her. She can travel where she wants, fight who she wants, and find out the same things mom and dad did. Have her own adventures, have her own life. She doesn't have to stay in Megaton anymore. The hope I had, of keeping her my close and dear sister, was shattered tonight by her own stubborn curiosity.

"I'm not a freak, for wanting to leave Megaton, am I?"

"No, Dizzy, you're not."

At this, Dizzy smiles. She pulls away from me, and puts her hands in her lap. I notice the gun on her hip, and wonder if she was planning on leaving if I hadn't followed her.
"I can survive on my own, can't I?"

"Yeah, you can."

"And…and I can fight better than most people, can't I?"

"Sure can."

"And you…what about you?"

I shrug, glad that she's happy, but still feeling hurt inside.

"What about me?"

"Will you come too? Will you come, and keep me safe, and…see it all with me?"

I look away from her, and sigh. As much…as I've wanted to get out of this town, I can't go with her. It'll only be nothing but a tease, and the want to tell her the truth about who I am will boil up and over. Then, if she hears the news out there, what'll happen? She'll run away in anger like she did tonight, and I won't know where to look. It's too much of a risk. I have…to let my sister go and explore on her own. I have to let her grow up, even if it means tossing her to the dangers with no protection.

"…No. I have to stay here, and be with mom and dad. They'll want one of us to stay behind."

Disappointment crosses her face, but she accepts it. Looking at the ground, and then to the sky, she smiles a bit.

"Yeah. I don't want my stupid brother to…be a burden and watch my every movement anyways."

"I'd just get in the way of your fun."

"Yeah. I guess."

Dizzy stands up, and offers me her hand. I take it and with surprising strength, she pulls me up with her. Smiling up at me, she gives me a hug.

"I…was stupid to think, you were anyone else aside from my brother."

"What do you mean?"

"It's stupid but…I always thought…we weren't I don't know, siblings. Like…you were…I don't know. I'm stupid, I guess."

She's not stupid. She's the smartest human being I've ever come across. Thing is, she has no idea how smart she really is. I want to tell her, that it'll all be alright. One day, she'll wake up and know. Just know who she is and not have to cry or worry anymore. That she'll be able to survive and endure whatever this world throws at her. But I can't tell her. I can't tell her, because there are some things people have to discover on their own. Dizzy is lucky, because she's surrounded by love. She has a small net of support, family to rely on. Although mom, dad and myself are there, she has to realize it all on her own. If I simply tell her, it won't mean half as much as it would, if she learned it on her own.

"You're not stupid, Diz. You just…didn't know."

Her blue eyes burn holes into mine as she stares at me. Sometimes I wonder which parent she gets her intensity from. My father, silent as he is, has an overbearing presence. He walks around, and people move from his path. They don't do that for me, even though we're the same size. I know it's not from strength or height, but instead from the way he holds and presents himself. My mother, our mother, has the same effect. Only, she's hardly quiet. People still move aside, and they watch their words very carefully, when they're around.

"Cain?"

"Yeah?"

"...If dad was a hired killer, someone with no emotions, someone…made to make life so deadly and horrible for whomever he had to kill…why didn't he kill mom?"

When mom told Dizzy the story, she didn't go into too much emotional detail. She simply told Dizzy that after a time, her and dad fell in love. There was no explanation, no detail, just that they did. As much as I know the story, I only know my mother's side. I don't know how dad was able to feel anything, especially something like love, especially for someone like my mom. In her younger years, I hear she was quite the bitch. A heart of gold sometimes, but a merciless bitch most of the time.

"I really don't know that. Ask dad, maybe he'll tell you."

"Dad doesn't tell me anything. But at least it makes sense to me now, why everyone is scared of him."

"Yeah I'd be scared of him too if I didn't know him."

"He's a ghoul, though, was he always?"

I nod my head at her, but then I shrug.

"When mom and dad met, he was a ghoul. I don't know when exactly he turned, I never asked."

"So…mom had to look past the ghoul features to fall in love with dad then?"

"Apparently."

"What does dad look like with real people features?"

I smirk as she says 'real people'. Her childish ways of describing things never ceased to amuse me. Then, I realize I know all too well, the answer to her question.

"…Like…me, I guess."

Without trying to give too much away, I answer her question. Dizzy takes my hand and stands up. I hold her hand in mine, and realize how small it is. It would be easy, for someone, anyone, to break her bones. She's so petite, even I feel like I'll hurt her if I hold her hand too tightly. In silence, we stare at the moon as it looms over us. Round, perfectly circular, it casts a foreshadowing glow down on us. Together, compared to the size of our own world, and the worlds that lie beyond human reach, Dizzy and I are both small. Insignificant to everything, and just two people in a mass hysteria of many.

I think of a song, that my mother would hum to me on the nights Dizzy and I couldn't sleep. She was too young at the time to remember, but I do. I remember, loving the sound of my mother's calm and musical voice. Her face was in peace, as Dizzy rocked in her arms, while I laid in my bed. I can't remember the words, but the tune, fits the mood of the scene I find myself in.

Dizzy and I stand atop the highest hill near Megaton. In the distance, the city ruins are illuminated by the moon, and below us, the growing town we were raised in sleeps. There's no limit, to this world. Only the horizon, which is only where our eyes can't see any further. The sky meets the land there, but if you walk to it you'll find it doesn't end. Dizzy now has all of that at the tips of her fingers. Tomorrow, maybe the day after, maybe even tonight, she'll leave this town and go find what's out there. I may never see my sister again. I may never be able, to look at her as the moon lights up her features, a perfect mixture of both her mother and father. Looking at her, I realize…how wrong I've been. How mistaken I was, for my entire life.

Dizzy was never meant, to stay here. She was never meant to be bred, born and raised and die in this town. Her eyes shine with hopes, desires, want of adventures and dangers. Created from the two most popular, feared, and respected members of the Capital Wasteland, it would be an insult to have her stay here. As much…as I've always secretly wanted her to stay here, to grow old here, I know it won't happen. I know that it would be wrong, and similar to caging a wild animal. She has no idea, what she's capable of doing. No idea what will come to her, and no idea of anything that awaits her. I think it's that mystery…that drives her to want to run free. She deserves to be free.

And…and me? I'm just a cheap imitation, of an admirable man. I have no needs to leave, no wants. I can say I'm curious, but the drive that Dizzy has, I lack. To me, time slips by and I don't mind it much. I'm not eager or yearning for freedom. If anything, when I wanted to leave it was only to find my purpose. There is no purpose for me. I am a copy, and not meant to be a person with drives, desires or needs and wants. All I am, is a stationary being, in a ever-moving world. Tears form in my eyes, as I realize a small truth of my being. I won't ever feel what others feel. Won't ever get the chance to lead a normal life, or whatever is considered normal out here. Love will escape me, and the only thing I'll be able to truly know the feeling of, is protecting someone else. For so long, that someone else has been Dizzy. But…what will happen, when she leaves? Who then, will I protect?

My mother has my father. I don't care much, for anyone else. Was I meant to feel such ties to Dizzy, because she is a product of my mother, just as I am a copy of my father? Because dad fell in love with mom, am I meant to forever be tormented by the image and memory of a woman I can never have or ever hold? I was created, because they wanted a copy of the worlds most perfect and precise killer. Not to feel. Not to grow and live as a normal being. Only, to protect and serve. …What will happen to me, when I have no one to protect, and no one to serve?

"Hey, Cain?"

I blink and realize Dizzy is staring back at me. How stupid must I have looked, just staring at her like a dog caught stealing table scraps?

"Uh…yeah?"

"Let's go home. Mom and dad must be worried."

I nod and put my arm around her shoulder. Guiding her down the hill, I know she's excited. Excited about being able to leave, about being able to grow on her own, and learn and feel a slew of new things. I can't say, I feel the same. When she's here, beside me, the stars hardly shine as bright. When we're together, and she's beside me, I don't feel as empty as I usually do. I didn't know how empty I did feel for these past few years, until she came back to me. Our bond, I guess, truly is a lot different than regular siblings. Somehow, we both know that. She squeezes my hand as it drapes over her left shoulder, and I look down at her. Dizzy returns my glance with a smile.

I feel my heart beat faster. When she returns to Megaton, I'll hold her close. Like I never have before. I'll greet her, overjoyed with her safe return, and exhilarated at her return to me. It's selfish to think she'll only come back for me, but I want to. I want to believe, against all odds, Dizzy feels something more for me than she lets on. That somehow, against everything in this world, there's a shot at something. Something I can't place my finger on, but hopefully, we both know it.

"I'm going to miss you."

There's no need to pretend, you know. No need to act like I don't know she's going to take off at the first chance she gets. I can't look at her anymore, so instead I pretend to be distracted at something going on behind the vegetable stand. There's really nothing there, but I act like there is so I don't have to look at her. At my words, she squeezes my hand a bit tighter as we continue to walk towards our house. I wish I had my smokes on me. I wish I wasn't out of them. I could use the distraction.

"…I'm going to miss you, too. It feels like…we just started to get close again and now…"

"You know Dizzy you don't have to go."

Before I even finish talking, I already regret saying it. Dizzy needs to go out and explore and grow on her own. Me making her feel bad for doing that, is wrong. I shake my head and look at the ground.

"I…didn't mean it like that. I just…meant that I'll really miss you. I want you to go and have fun out there."

I tell her, feeling ashamed. I'm not the reason she sleeps at night, and I'm not the reason she wakes every morning. I have to stop putting her on a pedestal, and I have…I have to move on. This small change, will help the both of us discover ourselves without the other around. Two separate beings, instead of one. I'm not sure what I'll do to pass the time, but I'll find something. I always find something.

"I know what you meant. But…maybe this'll be good, ya know? Maybe the two of us can find…other people to be close to. After all, we can't always be stuck together."

She says to me, and even though she's smiling, I can't help but hear a bit of pain in her voice. I feel that pain, deeper than anyone else.

"Yeah."

As we get to our house, we see dad sitting outside in a chair. Beside him a small table with a beer and his cigarettes. His eyes meet mine, and I realize for the first time, I need his advice. I've never asked advice from him, aside from how to fight or shoot a gun, but this time…I think he's the best person to turn to.

"I'll catch you inside. I'm going to talk to dad."

I tell Dizzy, and she nods. I notice as she goes inside, she smiles at dad. It's late, but…dad stayed awake for a reason. I think he knew, I'd need him.