Chance
Chapter 12: Past Actions
((A/N: As a recap of the previous chapter [for those who decided to skip over it due to the warning I posted of some intense situations], here it is. Roulette, after having been detained by Elder Maxson as a result of her deserting the BoS, was disciplined by the Elder before the crew of the Prydwen. Following this, she was brought down to be treated by Knight-captain Cade for the injuries left behind by the punishment. This is where we pick up in this chapter, basically the morning after the events of Chapter 11.))
As usual, the morning seemed to come far too quickly. Catherine groaned in annoyance at the noise of the alarm clock on her desk as it woke her up. She turned off the alarm, rising from her bed and going about her usual routine. She showered, donned her inform, and strode down the passageways towards the mess hall for breakfast, tying her hair back as she went. After eating a fairly light breakfast, Catherine went to speak with Knight-captain Cade. Upon entering the medical bay, Catherine was met not only by Cade, but Paladin Danse, and the same civilian who had been with Ashley when she first came aboard the Prydwen.
"Knight-captain, Paladin," she addressed, offering a salute to the two higher-ranking men. They both returned the gesture.
"I presume you are here to see Initiate Thomas?" Cade questioned.
Catherine nodded, "Yes, sir," she curtly answered.
"You three can go on, then. She woke up about ten minutes ago, so she'll still be a bit out of it," Cade told them.
The three nodded, and Catherine moved to lead the two men over to their associate. They found Ashley sitting up, propped up on a couple of pillows, absent-mindedly fiddling with her necklace. Upon hearing the sound of approaching footsteps, she looked up, giving a bit of a chuckle at seeing MacCready with the uniformed figures of Danse and her sister.
"Hey, Mac," she casually addressed. "What're you doing here?"
"Came to make sure you were in one piece, Rou," MacCready stated, joking a bit.
"After the events of last evening, I went and retrieved him," Danse offered. "I thought it may somehow assist in your recovery."
"Wait, backtracking a little bit. Did he call you, 'Rou'?" Catherine questioned.
"I've gone by 'Roulette' for the passed couple of years," Ashley explained. "And thanks for getting him, Danse, it does help. Especially when you consider the fact that Cade won't let me do anything for myself."
"Well, at least one thing hasn't changed," Catherine observed, rolling her eyes a bit. "You've got to let those wounds heal, Ash, once they do, you'll be up and about again."
Roulette groaned a bit, "I hate sitting around like this," she muttered.
"That's obvious," MacCready stated.
Catherine chuckled lightly, "She's always been like this," she said.
"I shouldn't be surprised," Danse returned.
"Okay, can we shut up about my stubborn nature?" Roulette cut in.
"Yeah, let's move on from that. How are you feeling?" Catherine questioned.
"Like I was thrown around like a ragdoll by a pissed off deathclaw," Rou told her, giving a sarcastic, though not entirely inaccurate reply.
"I figured. It sort of looked like that, in a way. It was hard to watch," Catherine told her.
"Should I even ask?" MacCready inquired.
"The Elder doused her with water and gave her eight lashes. Seemed harder than they normally would have been, though. I get the feeling that Elder Maxson might have let his personal feelings towards the Initiate play a role in the situation," Danse explained.
MacCready took a moment to process this, trying to imagine just what it would have been like to see that. He soon stopped, finding it to be a bad idea to visualize the scene. "Wow," he muttered. "That's harsh."
"It may be," Danse stated. "But, considering her actions, it was seen as the best option."
"That's fu- er, that's crazy," MacCready responded, almost shocked that the BoS would go so far.
"Welcome to the Brotherhood, Mac," Rou sarcastically stated.
"Speaking of the Brotherhood," Catherine mused. She turned to Danse and MacCready, "Can I talk to Ash alone for a moment?"
"Of course," Danse respectfully answered.
"I guess so," came MacCready's more reluctant reply.
"It'll be fine, Mac," Roulette offered, trying to reassure the man. Her companion gave a nod and stepped out with Danse, leaving the two sisters alone.
"You could've at least told somebody you were going to leave," Catherine stated, turning to her younger sister, speaking with a scolding sort of tone.
"Then I would have had to deal with all the crap that comes along with trying to officially leave," Rou responded.
"You ended up deserting. They were searching all over for you."
Roulette rolled her eyes, "Then they weren't searching very hard."
"You're crazy! You could've been killed out there, Ash," Catherine's voice held a heavy dose of concern.
"If I did, I would've been the one to end it. You know what we promised Dad. We said that if we were cornered with no way out, nobody would have the satisfaction of landing the final blow."
"You made that promise. That was your idea after we lost him, Ashley, I never agreed to it."
"Yet, you still wear those rounds."
Catherine said nothing for a moment. She had always kept the two bullets tucked under her collar, out of sight. How could Ash ave known she still kept that necklace on?
Roulette gave a quiet laugh. "Don't think I didn't notice how you were fidgeting with them last night. If there's anything we share, it's a nervous tick."
"Yeah, I guess we do," Catherine admitted.
"I'm honestly surprised you still wear them, though."
"I guess I just wanted to keep a bit of you with me, as sappy as it might sound."
Rou nodded, it did sound sappy, but, that's how Catherine was. "You know I'm still just going to leave again, right? I don't like how things run around here, these guys are basically hostile purists."
"I know it looks like that, but there's a good reason for it-,"
"What good reason is there for killing innocent ghouls and synths?! They're just trying to get by, just like everybody else!"
"They're dangerous, Ashley."
"Dangerous? Life is dangerous, Catherine, that's just how things are!"
Catherine sighed. She knew that her sister was right, and that she was going to leave, no matter what she was told. Ash had always been stubborn like that. "Fine," Catherine admitted. "But don't do anything too dumb. I don't want this to happen again."
"No promises," Roulette flatly offered, as Catherine began to leave.
As she approached the door, Catherine turned to her younger sister. "I'm still glad you're alright, Ash. No matter what, I'll always hope for the best," with that, the older sibling left, going to take care of her usual duties.
"What happened there?" MacCready questioned, as he entered the room once more, not long after Catherine had taken off. It seemed that Danse had also left, as the ex-Gunner came in alone.
"My sister being a dumbass happened," Rou told him, still holding an obvious tone of annoyance. "I'm going to talk to cade, see what it'll take for me to stay away from these bastards."
"I'm guessing you two got into another fight?"
"Yeah. And I'm not gonna stick around for the fallout of this one."
With this, Roulette moved to try to get up from her bed. MacCready rushed to stop her, as she muttered a handful of curses under her breath. The lingering pain was obviously worse than what the girl had been letting on.
"Stay there," MacCready told her, putting a hand on the blue-eyed girl's shoulder. "I'll go get Cade, you need some painkiller for that, anyways."
"I'm fine," Roulette insisted.
"Like a mole rat's a- butt you are," MacCready replied.
Roulette groaned, aware that the man was not going to let off anytime soon. She lay back down, surrendering, albeit reluctantly so. Mac nodded, and left to retrieve the Knight-captain. The pair entered, with Cade carrying a syringe of Med-X. The Knight-captain shook his head a bit when he laid eyes upon his patient.
"You really should just stay and rest. There may not be any serious damage, but those lashes still cut deep," Cade told her, as he administered roughly half a dose of the medication.
"I'm not dealing with mister high-and-mighty and the rest of the Brotherhood for any longer than I need to," Roulette told him.
Cade sighed. "Ultimately, it's your choice. But, I would recommend that you stay and recover," he informed her, keeping his voice as level as he could through his mild annoyance. "And if you intend to leave again, then you will have to take it up with Elder Maxson."
"Great," Rou sighed, her exasperation evident in her voice.
"Either I can bring him down, or you can wait until I've cleared you medically and go on your own."
"I'd rather get it over with as soon as I can."
"I'll try to get him down here, then. But, I cannot promise anything."
Roulette nodded, saying nothing as Cade left, most likely to speak with the Elder. The girl lay her head back, tired and frustrated. In the aftermath of last night, she found that her sister may have actually been right in something she had told her quite some time ago.
"No matter how hard you fight, or how far you run, your past actions will still catch up with you in time. The past never goes away, no matter how much you wish it would."