We don't waste time in getting to the exit. I remembered when I was inside here, so many years ago, you needed a password as a last-ditch security effort to open the doors. For a while, as we jog through the narrow and rusted-steel corridor, I'm worried it'll still be there. If it is, we're screwed, because I never knew the password. Coming to it, I make sure not to hesitate and scare Dizzy, who still holds fast to the chain around my wrist.

Luckily, the door opens up. Dizzy and I get out, nearly unscathed.

"Where to now?"

Dizzy asks, but I don't answer. Instead, I turn away from the ruins. Leading Dizzy up and out, stomping through the twisted and broken steel of the Citadel Ruins. I feel safer as we get closer to the river. Even as we get to the edge, I don't stop.

"Cain!"

I know she calls my name, but I pretend not to hear her over the splashing. I know Dizzy doesn't want to follow, but she does. Resistance on the chain tells me she's still there, holding on. She follows me, until we pass beneath an old, broken bridge. Dizzy coughs, while I swim and lead us both to the shore. It's somehow…safer here. Not completely safe, but safer than being so close to the ruins. I don't know why, but I just feel it. Dizzy coughs, as our feet touch solid ground. She drops the chain, and the weight of it falling into the water pulls against my wrist. Standing up, we catch our breaths as we wade out to the dirt shore.

"What the hell was that for?"

Dizzy demands, dragging herself from the water. Collapsing on the dirt, she leaves her legs in the water just enough to soak. Closing her eyes beneath the hot sun, she covers her face with her palm. It's alright, for us to rest for just a bit.

"We had to get away."

I tell her, as I sit beside her.

"We could have ran."

"Swimming was easier. Faster. Shortcut."

Dizzy shakes her head, groaning and keeping her palm over her face. Resting my weight on my palms, I lean back and look upwards towards the sun. It's warm, hot really, and it'll dry me off quick. Glancing down at Dizzy, I watch as her stomach rises and falls with each deep-catching breath she takes. Curious, I lift my hand and see that the water cleaned away all the blood. All that remains now is a jagged, red and angry gash on my wrist from the constant chafing I did to get the cuff off. My other chain, the one still attaches, hangs halfway in the water. I know there's creatures in the river, but dad said that was a long time ago, and since it's fresh now, they're probably all dead. Either way, I'm not worried.

"Do we go home now?"

My head turns to face Dizzy. She stares at me, her palm blocking the sun from her eyes. They're open, wide, and crystal blue.

"Yeah. We go home, and tell mom and dad."

"They're going to be so mad at me…"

"We don't have to tell them the truth, Diz."

She shakes her head at me, rubbing her temples.

"No, we have to tell the truth."

The tone of her voice, how serious she is, surprises me. For a minute, I stare at her, blank and shocked. Dizzy blinks and shrugs, as if it isn't a big deal. To her, I guess it's not.

"Lying won't do me any good. At least if we tell the truth, mom and dad can be proud about that if nothing else. After all, when have I ever really owned up to anything?"

"You're right."

She's trying I'll give her that much. Usually, Dizzy would opt for the easy way out. The one with the least confrontation and least trouble from our parents.

"Come on, let's get going."

I say to her as I stand. Readjusting the pack on my back, I lower my hand to Dizzy. She takes it, and I pull her to her feet. A sloshing sound comes from her boots, and she looks down at them. I start to lea her towards home. In the same way we got here, we begin to walk, following the river.

"Cain?"

"Yeah?"

Dizzy catches up to me, and matches her pace with mine. Since I'm so much taller than her, it takes a lot for her to keep up. I try to slow my pace for her, but it doesn't work.

"Why aren't you mad at me? I'd be pissed if I were you."

I shrug, uncaring.

"We're alive, aren't we?"

"Yeah…"

"Alright then."

"It just seems you're taking all of this way too easy."

Shaking my head, I sigh. I'm really just exhausted.

"No. Just no sense in getting worked up over things I simply can't fix or improve."

"You really are like dad, you know that?"

Dizzy…you know, though, she's right. But how am I supposed to act? Cry? Scream? Be angry? If I did any of those things, what would it really improve? What would it do? Nothing. I can't do anything, about what happened back there. I can't do into the past and stop Dizzy from being fooled and blinded by Raiders, nor can I stop her from discovering the truth. And, above all else, I can't stop myself from knowing the truth about how I was made. In the long run, at least I'll know. I know now, that it's okay, and that I wasn't a real freak for feeling the things I feel. In a different sense now, though, I'm an abomination. I've been dealing with that my entire life, though, so the change isn't too great.

I look down at Dizzy, expecting her to be cautiously looking about like she did on the way here. She isn't, though. Instead, she's biting her lip and staring off towards the horizon. This trip was shorter than expected, but with the newfound freedom I'm sure we'll be able to continue with it once the Raider situation is dealt with. If anything, Dizzy is feeling scared of how our parents will react.

They've never hit us, or anything like that. But we know when we disappoint them, and it bothers us when we anger them. Even before Dizzy knew the truth, she respected both our father and mother greatly. I could tell by the way she looked, when one of them would scold her. She knew, back then, there was something different about them. Something that demanded respect, even if the reason was unknown. Disappointing them now, after knowing the truth about everything, would be really hard on her. But, she has to learn somehow.

"You think they'll come after us?"

The fear in her voice causes me to walk a bit closer to her.

"Yeah, probably. But we've got a head start, and left their leader dead. They have distractions."

"Someone else is going to take over. I don't know who, but it's not hard to claim power there. It's really all stupid, if you ask me."

"What'd you see in him, anyways? He stank."

She laughs, and I like her laugh. I'm not in a bad mood, but I'm not in a good one either. Hearing her laugh like that brings me up a bit.

"Yeah he did. I didn't really see much of anything in him, except an opportunity."

"Opportunity?"

"Yup. Get ahead without making any commitments. I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm a full-blown woman, Cain. I can hustle and swing anything I want from guys so long as they're under the impression they'll get in my pants."

"You sound like mom."

Dizzy turns her head. Was she even listening to their story or hearing only the gory parts?

"What you mean?"

"I mean mom did that, too. She could swindle and take anything she ever wanted. Not that she did a lot with dad around, but on her own, she was self-sufficient."

"Mom's real pretty, isn't she?"

"That she is."

"I bet she had tons of guys drooling over her."

I remind myself Dizzy is still seventeen, and that guys make up a good portion of her mind. I wonder, though, is there room for me inside that mind of hers?

"I have to ask you something really serious."

Dizzy says, and I look down at her. For her age, for who her parents are, for everything that she is and has become, when Dizzy is serious, the entire world stops.

"Alright, shoot."

Her eyes avert mine, as she looks down at her feet. She's lucky that there's no poles sticking out of the ground, or she'd walk right into them.
"It was okay…that…we kissed because…we're not really related, right?"

The question is serious. It hits me hard, and in a short amount of time I have to come up with a suitable answer. Saying it is alright, would open doors of unspeakable emotional opportunities. I'd be able to fulfill my urges, my wants, if she would let me. It wouldn't be wrong, because we have no relation to one another. Every fiber of my being wants to tell her it's okay. But, I can't. Because...even though it's alright, in so many ways, it's still wrong. And as much…as much as she wants me to be beside her out here. Keep her safe, protected and give her company and conversation…I don't know if I can. I don't know if out here, in the Capital Wasteland, is where I truly belong.

"It is okay, but I don't think we should let it happen again."

It's the most responsible and denying answer I've ever given in my entire life. I look away from Dizzy, as I feel her eyes burning into me. I try to keep my mind focused, and straight ahead at the simmering desert-like terrain in front of us. Heat causes the distance to look like it's moving, and as tired as I feel, I want to focus on that.

"Yeah…you're right."

Hearing those words, although enforce my right choice, kills me. Dizzy is right. I should be angry. I should be distraught at discovering the truth about myself. Furious with her, for pulling that stunt. And yet, I'm not. I'm not because, against all those things, Dizzy looked at me like I was still a person to her. I guess, the best way to explain it, is when dad told me mom treated him like an equal, despite everything else.

When I don't feel her eyes on me anymore, I look down. I never wanted to see her unhappy, you know. I never, wanted to be the cause for her pain, or for the sadness that I can see in the corners of her eyes. If liquor wasn't involved the other night, I could swear somewhere inside that head of hers, Dizzy cared for me in a strange way, too. But for our parents, for our reputations in Megaton, for everyone else, there is no way we could ever have a normal romance, or life, together. It would upset our parents. Upset the town. And word would travel across the Wasteland faster than the river rises with the rains. I know Dizzy's solution would be to run away, and find another land to live in, but I can't do that. Because I don't know if the Capital Wasteland is the place for me. I don't know anymore, due to what I am, if there's room for me to stay here after we help mom and dad. So, instead of filling her head with empty promises and hopes of the future, I say a silent goodbye to her. She was almost my lover, but, it wasn't really meant to be, anyways.

Mom and dad, told me a lot about this land. They entertained me late at night, with bedtime stories of their adventures and triumphs out here. Being out here now, I realize it's not the way they described it. Some things, are missing from their tale. Like, the loneliness. For miles and miles, there could be no one. Not a soul, not an enemy, not even an animal. Alone, you feel isolated, and insanity could easily set in. Yet, as strange as it sounds, I think you feel lonelier when you're traveling in silence with someone. When there's so much between you to say, but saying nothing is the best option. When you feel as if, you're drifting further and further apart from the only friend you have out here, even though you're walking right beside them.

I want to open my mouth and speak, but what can I say? After her question, and my answer, what words can I offer to comfort her? Entertain her? There's no real words to say anymore. I don't know if our relationship will be the same as it was, or as we wanted to repair it. All I can bank on, hope for, is that we'll make it to Megaton with no more hassle. And, hope that in her long future and life, she'll find happiness.