A/N: The song for this chapter, I know, is already from the game soundtrack. But listen to it again. Not with the movie from the beginning of the game, but as a whole. Notice the tones, the mood.
This song actually helped—inspired—far more than just this chapter. Its somber sounds are a wonder for writing a more serious chapter. I had it on a loop for about two hours one night as I was writing. So, yeah. Good stuff.
16. Two Meets One
MacCready POV
Fallout 4 Intro Cinematic Music (Extended) by Sam Yung
She walks through the front door of her old house, and as soon as her feet pass the threshold, she stops. I slip my way past her, standing to her side. Looking her in the face as her eyes roam the room, I quietly say, "We can come back later if you're not ready right now."
She continues looking around, acting like she didn't even hear me. After a couple minutes of her speechless state, she whispers, "It's so different…" Finally making a move, she walks to the kitchen, and pulls a piece of paper from the fridge. With her back to me, she's unreadable. But as she turns—the note still in her hand—I see her eyes are glistening ever so slightly. "The grocery list is still here." Looking down at it, "Well, we don't need Nuka-Cola anymore. Guess I can cross that off." She puts the list back under the magnet and glances around, her eyes glazed over.
Walking up to her, I say, "You know, talking through your feelings has always helped you. Maybe it'll help now, too." Again, I'm not sure if she heard me. But after walking to some shelves by the door, she speaks.
"I used to have my degree here. It proved I could practice law. As soon as I got it, I went right to the store and got a frame for it. I was so proud. And right next to it, Nate kept a trifold flag. He got to keep it when his best friend fell at Anchorage—the rest of his family either didn't want it, or was passed already. He was glad he was able to have it." She does a one eighty, walking toward the red couch and puts her hand on the back of it.
"We watched television, listened to the radio, and sometimes ate dinner here. It was a brand new couch—delivered from the furniture store maybe a week before the bombs. Shame." Moving to the kitchen again, she continues.
"Nate and I usually made our own breakfast—a bowl of Sugar Bombs, an omelet—whatever we felt like that morning. But we did take turns making dinner. It was rough, with our schedules, but we managed. It was so much easier when we got Codsworth. He made all our meals. Plus, he helped take care of Shaun—that really helped me catch up on sleep." Pointing at the table and chairs, "And we ate there. Every morning. Most nights. I had to hold Shaun when we all ate—he was still too young for a high chair."
I follow her silently as she moves down the hallway. Stopping at a small closet, she chuckles lightly. Picking up five books, she says, "We didn't know what to do with this, it was so small. So, I made it into my personal library of sorts. I built six shelves, installed them, and put my collection of books here. Glad to see these many survived at least." She sets them down for the time being and looks to what seems to have been the laundry room, saying, "I really miss washers and dryers," and moves to the next room.
"This was our room." Glancing at the broken down bed, she mumbles, "Well, crap. Someone took it." Noticing my confused face, she clarifies, "The comforter. It was a horrid yellow, but it was so warm. Nate's parents got it for us on our first year anniversary." Looking about, she sighs and turns around, heading to the room across the way.
"And this was Sha—" She stops abruptly—verbally and physically. Thinking there's something dangerous in there, I gaze over her shoulder. Seeing it's empty, I remember she hasn't been back here since the world ended, and it must have hit her hard to see it again. As she walks in slowly, she remains silent. After a few seconds, she bends down and picks something up from under the dresser. It's a children's book.
"I can't believe this made it," she says with utter disbelief. After she looks it over, she hands it to me. "Nate got that for Shaun while I was still pregnant with him. We couldn't wait to read with him." I notice the cover reads "You're S.P.E.C.I.A.L!" She continues, "He said he was going out to take care of some errands—but he came home with this instead. I was so happy, I cried—and that was rare back then, so you know it had to be the baby hormones." We chuckle. "I guess he's a little old to be read to now, huh?"
"I'm sure he'll love to hear his mother read to him," I reassure. "Last I heard, Kate still reads to Ellis and Duncan every night, and they just eat it up." She grins.
Suddenly, she gets this strange look on her face and dashes back into her old bedroom. Practically ripping the drawer out of the dresser, she sighs. "They're still here." She produces a pair of dog tags and clutches them to herself. "One was Nate's, back when he served in the military, and the other belonged to my cousin. He died the very first day of duty—stepped on a landmine. He was only eighteen.
"We used to play together when we were kids—used to be like brother and sister, actually. His dad worked with mine, so they traveled together a lot. Which meant he and his mom—my Aunt June—used to come over all the time. Those were the days." She looks at them again before tucking them into a pocket on her leather armour. Once they're in place, she looks up at me all of a sudden. "Can we go see him?"
"Your… cousin?"
"No. Nate," she explains. "Would that be okay with you?" She looks a little bit worried that I would object.
"Of course I'm okay with it. But, are you sure you want to?"
"Yeah… I haven't been back yet, and I feel kinda bad for it."
"Whenever you're ready." If she wants to see her husband, who am I to stop her?
We left within a few minutes of discussing it. The walk to the vault was shorter than I was expecting. And even less expected, was the entrance into the vault itself. I'd never before seen a lift-style door to the underground bunkers.
After walking through the Overseer's office, kitchen/diner, and staff quarters, we were faced with entering the room with the cryogenic pods. Passing dead body after dead body made me feel uncomfortable—I couldn't imagine waking up to this after an already tragic series of events.
She walks up to the only open pod, sighs, and does an about-face.
She stands before a single pod and opens it by pulling a lever. When it opens, she takes a deep breath.
She doesn't talk for a few minutes, but when she does, she says what I was least expecting: introducing me to him. "Hi, Nate. This is Robert." She pulls me next to her and puts her arm around me. "I really think you'd like him. He's made this so much easier—dealing with how much the world's changed and being alone. He's helped me more than I can say." She looks at me with a small smile. "He's amazing." She stretches up on her toes and kisses me on the cheek and lets me go. She looks back to his pod, seeming to not know what else to say. She needs closure. I know if it were me, I'd need to be alone.
"I, uh… I'll leave you alone." For once, she doesn't argue or try to stop me as I start to walk out of the room.
Sitting out of sight on the other side of the doorframe, I hear her sit on the floor as well. After a minute of silence, she finally begins to speak.
"Nate… I'm so sorry. I couldn't stop Kellogg—from killing you or taking Shaun. I have to face it everyday, knowing that I was useless. But, I did find Kellogg. He's dead now, so that should make you feel better. It seemed like he was sorry, but…" She sighs. "I don't know. Doesn't matter now. Nothing can change." She falls silent for a few seconds.
"So apparently, ten years have passed since that day our baby was taken. He's ten years old now, and I'm not even sure how I feel about it. But then again, I'm not even sure what to think of everything else. You'd be doing so much better out here than I am. I mean, before stepping into this wasteland, I hadn't even held a knife in self-defense. With your being in the military, this would probably be a second nature to you… But… I think I'm doing okay out here. Like I said a minute ago, with Robert, everything's a lot easier.
"I'm really glad I found him. Took a bit to get used to him, but now… I don't know how to be without him. He really is a great guy, Nate. You told me if you'd died in Anchorage, you'd want me to move on—find a nice man to settle down with, help me raise Shaun. I don't think it'd be any different now, so I'm going to assume it's okay with you." Another pause. "I really love him, Nate. I never knew I could love someone else, this much and this soon. It's like magic—and it's weird, but I'm not complaining at all.
"I promised I'd find Shaun. And I'm working on it. Robert's helping me—even some of the people in an organization called the Brotherhood are. It's crazy." I hear her sniffle.
Through some tears, "I guess I need to go work on that some more. I've been wanting to give them a way to find him, but I just haven't yet. I guess I'm scared of what I'll find. Shaun—ten years old? I don't know how I can handle that.
"I really wished it was you here instead of me sometimes. But I'm managing." She stands, so I do the same. "Well, I'll see you later." She walks toward the door without a backward glance. Seeing me right here, she asks, "Ready?" She tries to wipe a few stray tears away inconspicuously.
"Uh… no." I look toward the room she came from. "Give me a few minutes?" She looks confused, but nods and continues walking to the exit, dabbing at her eyes with her vaultsuit sleeve. I stand in front of Nate as I hear the hydraulic whoosh of the door, signaling her departure.
"Hey," I greet him awkwardly. Wringing the back of my neck, "I'm sorry about…" I gesture to his frozen form. "…Well." Not sure how to proceed, I just start rambling.
"She's awesome, you know? Well, yeah. Actually you do. Um, sorry. But, yeah. She's great. Like out of this world—quite literally for me. Never in a million years thought I'd meet someone from before. I guess I can kinda say I've meet two now, huh?" Hearing how stupid I sound, I cut myself short and sigh.
Moving to an actual topic, I say, "Hey. I really do think your wife's great. And I heard her. Look, she's not the only one. I really love her, too. And I'd kinda feel weird if I didn't say anything. I mean, it's not like I'm asking permission, cause one: you can't answer, and two: I'm going to probably anyway, so it'd be kinda pointless. But…" I stop and take a deep breath, listening for any possible movement from her. With the reassurance of silence, I continue.
"I want to marry her, Nate. I know I can't live without her, and she means the world to me. I promise I'm doing everything I can to protect her, to provide for her. But if anyone knows, it'd be you: she's stubborn and sometimes won't let me. That's on her, right? I'm sure you've had to throw your arms in the air and just let her have her way sometimes." Annnd I'm rambling again. "Anyway…" I pull the lever to close the pod once again. "See you later," I repeat Beth's words.
As I get to the front room, I see Beth sitting on a foldup chair, opening and reclosing the holotape door on her Pip-Boy. Going up to her, I put my hand on it, stopping her. "You'll break it…" She looks up at me, her eyes wet and red. She stands and hugs me. Patting her hair down, I ask her, "You ready to go?"
She must feel better already as she nods, a faint smile appearing on her lips.
We leave the vault, Nate, and the memories behind, sitting on ready to be sorted out some other day.
Somewhere in the universe, two souls exchange conversation.
"He seems nice."
"He's the best. She couldn't have a better husband. Trust me."