The pit in Leyah's stomach kept getting deeper and deeper with every step west they took.

Maverick was on edge too. Due to his experience with the Brotherhood, she didn't doubt that he had developed some sort of judgement on how trips like this went. She knew he didn't have high hopes for this either.

Leyah had to know what happened, despite the low odds.

They were making good time according to her Pip-boy and they were only a couple hours away from reaching the location on her map.

A low growling sound reached her ears and she almost ran into Maverick when he stopped in his tracks. He held his finger up to his lips and cocked his head, listening closely. Leyah rested a hand on his back and was shocked to feel him trembling.

Wait…oh shit.

She knew what Maverick was afraid of by now, and only one other thing besides heights caused him to shake like this.

"Leyah."

"Yeah?" she whispered.

"Run."

Maverick took off at a dead sprint and Leyah was right on his heels. A deafening roar suddenly boomed out and Leyah picked up the pace.

She heard heavy footsteps start to sound out behind her and her blood turned to ice in her veins.

When she first met Maverick, one of the first things he taught her about was Deathclaws. Basically, he told her they were nearly unstoppable and if you saw one, get the hell out. They sprinted underneath an overpass from the old highway and Leyah's heart dropped when they turned the corner.

They were greeted with the sight of turrets and suit of power armor. The machines instantly turned toward them and Leyah realized they were sitting ducks in the little canyon they were in.

As if this day wasn't already shit.

"Get over here!" a woman's voice barked.

Leyah squeaked when she realized the woman in the power armor was holding a missile launcher and she kept close to Maverick as they got behind the road blocks the woman was using for cover.

The Vault Dweller finally got to get a close look at a Deathclaw and that made her never want to see one again. Its claws were at least as long as her forearm and the milky, white appearance of its eyes seemed soulless as it sprinted toward them. She fired at it and her stomach dropped when it just kept coming, despite the fact both she, Maverick, and the turrets were firing at it.

The woman fired the missile and Leyah ducked down and she felt Maverick hold her close to him. A large thud had the companions looking over the edge of road block. The Deathclaw was still twitching, but a shot from Maverick to it's head fixed that.

Leyah let Maverick help her up and she wrapped her arms around him. He was still trembling and Leyah knew she wasn't any better. She could see why he was so afraid to Deathclaws now.

The click of a gun had her stiffening.

"Never thought I'd see you again, Barrington," the woman's voice sneered.

Leyah peeked around Maverick to see the woman in power armor pointing a laser rifle at them now.

Maverick slowly turned, purposefully keeping himself between the woman and Leyah. Leyah tried to step to the side but Maverick held his arm out.

"Morgan," he growled.

Wait…was this the Morgan that escorted Maverick out of the Brotherhood of Steel?

Leyah didn't hesitate to step away from Maverick and hold up her own gun. She tried to stop her trembling as she heard the turrets zero in on her. This woman helped ruin Maverick's life. She wasn't about to stand aside and let her threaten them.

"Let us walk away, now," Leyah demanded.

Maverick glanced at her before slowly making his way around the road block. Leyah followed him, keeping her rifle aimed at Morgan.

"Why should I? I'm not bound by the Brotherhood's stupid rules anymore. I was so disappointed when I didn't get to shoot you," the woman sneered, charging her rifle.

"What are you even doing out here, Morgan?" Maverick growled.

"Oh? You don't know? After Lyons found out about your dismissal, he did a full on investigation into the Brotherhood. Many of us have been exiled because of you. You knew this would happen, didn't you?"

Leyah didn't take her eyes off of Morgan, looking for weak points in her power armor. She wasn't shaking out of fear now, she was shaking out of pure rage. She knew why Maverick let himself be exiled. He said he knew Lyons would have looked into it and overall, he helped save the Brotherhood of Steel from corruption.

"Did you really think nothing would have happened? He got exiled for the dumbest reason I have ever heard. Who wouldn't question it?" Leyah snapped, charging up her own rifle.

"I'm sorry, did my dad's piece of shit idea not work? Did all of the ass kissing not pay off?" Maverick retorted, holding his shotgun up.

Morgan growled and Leyah flexed her finger, ready to pull the trigger at the first sign of movement.

"You piece of shit!" the woman yelled.

Leyah could feel the sweat rolling down her forehead and she had never felt so tense in her life.

"Defender Morgan! Stop!"

Leyah didn't take her eyes off Morgan, and she wasn't going to relax until Maverick gave her the okay.

Morgan looked away from both of them. "Protector Casdin!"

Another figure in power armor stepped in front of Morgan and Leyah pointed her gun at him instead. His severe expression stopped Morgan's protests in their tracks. Leyah would have shut up too if she had those eyebrows looking at her. Her jaw clenched when she realized that this was another man that was involved in ruining Maverick's life.

Casdin finally realized they were still there and his small, beady eyes widened when he saw Maverick.

"Maverick?!"

"Henry."

Leyah didn't know what to say or do as the four of them stood in a stand off. Morgan still had her gun raised and Maverick hadn't lowered his an inch. "Out of all the bastards I had to run into today, you had to be one of them," Maverick said, cocking his shotgun.

Henry Casdin finally put a hand on Morgan's rifle and forced her to lower it. "Stand the fuck down. We don't need a gun fight after a deathclaw just charged you."

Morgan finally lowered her rifle and Casdin gestured to the Fort. "Go get him."

Even though Leyah couldn't see the woman's face because of her helmet, she imagined a sneer on it. Maverick had yet to lower his own gun and he waited until Morgan walked inside the gate of the fort to do so. Leyah lowered hers as well, arms aching from holding it up for so long.

"Go get who, Casdin?" Maverick demanded, "And what the fuck is going on?"

Casdin sighed and stepped closer to them. "I wasn't the only leader that was exiled, Maverick. I knew we shouldn't have caused your exile but Rothchild and your father insisted and I truly didn't understand it myself. They even failed to give me a good reason."

Maverick barked out a laugh with no humor. "Right, because if you spoke out they would have roasted your ass too. I get it. But I'm not sticking around to chat. You all are probably the last people I want to see. And tell Morgan if she so much as glances at me again, I'll put a bullet between her eyes."

He started to walk away and Leyah moved to follow him, skirting around the deathclaw.

"Maverick—"

"Can it Casdin. I don't want to hear it."

"Maverick."

Both Leyah and Maverick halted in their tracks at the sound of the new voice. Leyah almost thought it was Maverick talking for a moment because they sounded so alike, but this voice was smoother and full of authority.

Somehow, Leyah knew who it was even before they turned around.

Maverick's face was blank and his body was rigid as he stared at the newcomer next to Casdin.

The man had dark, salt and pepper hair and Leyah was amazed at how much he looked like Maverick in the face. The main differences were the eyes and the height.

"Paladin Barrington," Maverick growled.

This day just got a million times worse.