22. The Report
Beth POV
I wake with a start—jolting so hard, I feel like I could fall out of bed once I open my eyes and realize I'm actually in bed. Last I remembered, I was sitting in Robert's lap downstairs…
"Hey." He rubs my arm. When I look at him, I see his small grin and instantly feel better. "Just a dream," he assures.
Thinking about what I woke up from, I say, "Kind of a dream."
He nods knowingly. "Kind of a dream."
I sit up on the edge of the bed. Shaking my head, "I wonder when these will go away…" I look at the time on my Pip-Boy. "Well, might as well start my day. You can go back to sleep now, babe." As I'm standing up, I feel him getting up also.
"Nah. Won't be able to sleep." He pulls his pants on and comes over to me, giving me a kiss on the cheek. "Any plans today?"
"Actually… that dream made me want to go back to the Institute. I did tell Maxson that I had plans of going back soon anyway."
At the end of my first sentence, his face shifts from curiosity to apprehension. "You sure that's a good idea?"
"Well, no. But I do need to go back. And who's to say: maybe when I go back, it'll help me move on faster. Worth a shot."
"I need to go with you then." Determination fills his face.
"Can't happen. They only gave me a chip. I mean, I know where it's at, but it can't be easy to get to."
One of his brows go up. "Where is it?"
"Under the CIT ruins. It's pretty far underground from what I hear. I don't even think they have a way into it other than teleportation." I raise my Pip-Boy, looking at the map, and show him where it is I'm talking. "See? Right there. I'm gonna be under there… somewhere.
"I can get there directly from here, but if you want to go as far to it as you can, I suppose we can just go to the ruins themselves." He nods with a serious expression, showing he likes this idea. "It doesn't make much of a difference, but if it makes you feel better…"
Ultimately, we decide to go ahead and go right up to the ruins via the Charles River. Robert's nervous the whole time, and trying his best to get me to stay with things like, You know how well it went last time, and, What if the teleporting process doesn't go as smoothly this time around? But, he should know by now that once I make up my mind on something, there's no turning back. He accepts it once we reach the ruins, his face clearly unhappy about my decision, but knowing he's unable to change it.
"Okay, here we are. I only plan on being gone for an hour—a few hours at most." I look at his worried face from my task of slinging a bag over my shoulder. "It'll be okay. They do this all the time. The teleporter Ingram made only burned up because it was her first time making one—she didn't know what she was doing, really. Nobody's died using the Institute's teleporters—that I know of."
"Cause that makes me feel better," Robert mutters, his eyes averted from me.
Grabbing his head, I put my face in his. Now he looks at me. "I will. Be back. And when I am, we'll go on a vacation. I promise. I mean, we both could use one." I lean up the last inch and kiss him. "See you soon." I press the button and disappear in a flash.
MacCready POV
Waiting For A Girl Like You by Foreigner
Briefly, I feel heat, along with a blinding flash, and she's gone. She said just a few hours at most. She'll be fine. Looking around the small cabin of the boat, I see nothing but nothing. Should have brought something to do—
There's another flash, and I see Beth standing right in front of me again. She reaches into her bag and hands me an item. "I thought you'd be bored. I just forgot to give this to you before I left." I look down to see my favourite collection of Poe poems and short stories. Looking back up at her, she smirks. "Told you I'd be fine." She reaches to her Pip-Boy and disappears again.
With my book in hand, and shock probably evident on my face, I recollect myself and sit down in the cabin just before I start to hear a Vertibird coming in my direction. It lands a bit up the road and a few suits of power armour come toward me after getting off. Realizing they're Brotherhood, I stand and move out of the cabin to show I have no ill intent. One of the frames takes off their helmet and I see Danse's face. He waves at the other two suits flanking him, and although I can't make out what he says to them, I'd guess it's something to do with how I'm a friendly.
Once they're standing on the dirt a dozen or so feet from me on the boat, he looks around, asking, "Where's Beth?"
"In the lion's den," I respond pointing downward, to which he raises his eyebrows.
"For how long?" As he asks, the other two soldiers at his sides are scanning the landscape, looking for threats.
"She said no more than a few hours. Did you guys come out here for a specific reason, or just out for a cruise?"
He continues to look at me, his face showing an exaggerated amount of boredom at my joke. Answering me, he says, "One of the Lancers saw your boat. With it normally not being here—as our members routinely survey the land—they thought it odd, and sent a small team out to investigate. So, here we are.
"She's going to be gone for a few hours you say?"
"Maybe. Depends on how long whatever she's doing takes." He looks at me for a moment, then looks to his subordinates.
"Take the Vertibird back to the Prydwen and report a false positive of danger near CIT. I will be staying here to await the return of our Knight."
One of the suits isn't pleased with this. "But sir—"
"Jennings: I will do as I see fit. That is all." Dejectedly, the two suits turn and return to the Vertibird. Once it's airborne, he looks to me. "Do you mind if I wait with you?" As I shake my head, he boards the boat.
What he does next surprises me. He activates the eject mechanism, and climbs out of his power armour. I've never seen him out of it, and at times, wondered if he even had a body under all that metal. After setting down his helmet next to the frame, he sees my gaping face. Chuckling, "You've probably wondered if I was even a man under this thing, huh?" I nod a bit sheepishly. Chuckling again, he says, "I prefer to wear it at all times possible. Without it, I hate to say, I feel a bit vulnerable. With it however, I feel stronger, and better prepared for any situation at hand."
After a few seconds, I gesture to the cabin. "Could take a while. Might as well make yourself comfortable." I walk into the cabin myself, and am surprised to actually hear him follow me. Once we're both seated, I crack open my book of Poe, not sure what to do with the unintended company. After a few minutes of The Tell-Tale Heart—one of my favorites—he startles me by clearing his throat.
"So…" I look up at him. "I see you're reading Poe." I nod sarcastically. Well, the spine doesn't say Dickens, does it? "I've read little of his works. Never been a real fan of literature myself. I envy those who have the time and patience for reading—at times, I wish I had more incentive on my downtime." I nod again and continue the short story. Yet again being interrupting as he asks, "Is Beth a reader as well?" I give up on making progress of the story and close it.
"Yes. She's actually the one that got me reading. I mean, I read a bit when I was younger, but nothing compared to now. You should see her collection we moved from Diamond City to Spectacle Island—and it's only growing. I may have a little to do with it, but nothing like her. She picks up ten times as many books as I do."
He chuckles and grins. "I would like to see her assortment. I know enough about books to know that a person's collection—and especially favourites—says a lot about them."
"Well, maybe on one of your visits, she'll let you see her library."
We sit in silence—awkward silence at that—for a minute before he randomly asks, "How did you two meet?" Gaining an almost peeved look from me, he amends, "Well, I met both of you at the same time. I'm just curious as to how someone like you and someone like her got together." Getting an even more sardonic look, he adds, "I didn't mean to offend."
Having feigned my irritation, I wave it off, and answer the best I can. "I'm not real sure. I actually spend a lot of time wondering the same thing…
"Uh… We met in Goodneighbor—sometime in November. I was trying to lose a couple thorns in my side that I had worked with in the past, when I see a head peek around the corner and disappear just as quickly. I managed to get her in the room after the two idiots left me alone. I told her what was true: that I was a gun for hire—I'd watch her back if the price was right—but no haggling. She didn't have enough caps, so she left. She was so wary, so fearful of everything—even me—that I couldn't believe she hadn't been raped or murdered yet. She was pretty fresh out of the vault then—"
"Wait," Danse cuts in, seeming shocked. "Are you trying to tell me that Beth was shy back then?"
"I'm not trying to tell you—I just did," I laugh. He can't seem to believe it.
"Beth? This big around yet can take down an army if she saw fit? That is pretty much waging a war with the 'Boogeyman of the Commonwealth?'" I nod, amused at his flabbergasted expression. "Wow. What made her change? She's nothing like that now…"
"Hold on, I'm getting there. You cut me off, so chill. As I was saying:
"She didn't have the money, so she left. It was about a month later—like, exactly a month—and she came back. Instead of peeking around the corner, taking her time to come in, she just waltzes in the place like she owns it. She literally threw me the money I was asking for and hired me on as a gun right away, no questions asked.
"I could obviously tell a huge difference. So, I asked her what happened to make such a radical change. She didn't want to tell me, but she eventually said more or less, that people like her get killed easily. That she had to find her son, and she couldn't afford to die yet—and that's why she hired me. The more eyes, ears, and weapons to protect her, the better.
"We traveled for a while, and… it just happened. We fell for each other. Life has been different ever since then. And I wouldn't have it any other way."
Danse smiles at me. "This wasteland proves difficult to navigate alone. You two are lucky to have each other. And the more I see you together, the more I realize it's true."
I grin back at him. "I'm actually the lucky one. Like you said: how did someone like me make it with someone like her? Pure luck, that's how. That makes twice for me now. I'm just hoping it goes better this time around…
"That's why I'm so careful with Beth. I can't lose her, too. I mean, I know she's capable… but that doesn't make me any less scared of losing her. At least I feel like I'm more prepared to protect her than I was with my first wife."
"I didn't know that you and Beth were married," Danse says, his face a bit shocked.
"We're not…" I look down at my hands. "Not yet anyway. I haven't asked her, but… I'd do anything for her to say yes. I haven't found a good time yet with all this Institute shi—er, crap… going on.
"I'm scared she'll say no… Because, if I'm honest, I don't deserve her. It'd be just like fate to say 'screw you.' That's what I'm used to now—being screwed over. So, I've been expecting it to happen again, and really dreading it… Maybe that's part of the reason I've been putting it off. I just want to enjoy this as long as I can before I get… flipped onto my ear…"
"Listen, MacCready. If I know anything, it's that you love her more than your own life. I can see it—a lot of people can, if they're not completely blind or stupid to it. And I'd say it's pretty safe to say that Beth feels the same way about you. So, there's nothing to worry about.
"Matter of fact, I think I can help you out. I found something a little while back. …Tell you what. Come meet me in my quarters on ship soon. Just make sure you're alone—you'll figure out something to tell her, right?"
A little confused, I decide to trust him as Beth does and nod. "Yeah, I'll make something up."
"Great." Danse is grinning from ear to ear. What is he planning?
Beth comes back when we least expect it, and from the look on her face, she wasn't expecting my company either.
"Um," she says once the flash is completely gone. Looking at Danse, sitting on the opposite wall to me, she can't help her eyebrows from shooting up and her jaw from going slack. "You're… not in…"
"Yeah. Time for a break," he replies with a snicker. As he stands, he asks, "Anything new from down under?"
Still shell shocked from the odd sight, she takes a moment to respond. "Uh… Yeah, actually. Dr. Li is on board with coming back to the Brotherhood. She said she should be at the airport within a couple days," she tells Danse.
"Excellent." He beams.
"Yeah… I did find something else out while I was there. I'm not sure what to make of it, though…"
I stand and close the few feet between us. "What is it?"
"…Shaun is dying. He has some kind of cancer, and they can't get rid of it. They don't expect him to last much longer…" Both Danse and I are shocked speechless. "I want to care—I want to care a lot. But for some reason, I can't. I almost feel like he deserves it?" She looks up at me with confused eyes. "Does that make me a bad person—a bad mother?"
I hug her to me, whispering, "No, it doesn't. Just look at the positive—it's something you do best." She hugs me back, nodding, accepting it as it is.
"Silver lining," she mutters. "At least I may not have to kill him myself now. I wasn't really looking forward to that, regardless of my near-hatred for him."
"See, there it is," Danse cuts in. "Your positivity is something to covet, Beth." He turns to me. "Since I told my squad to return themselves, would you mind giving me a lift to the airport on your way back?"
"Not at all." I look to Beth. "Ready to go home?"
"Hell. Yes."
Beth POV
Once we dropped Danse off at the airport and made it back home, I could finally tell Robert the rest of what happened.
"Guess what Father did?" I refuse to call him Shaun, the name I gave my son, not this monster.
"What did Father do?" he asks as he moves around the kitchen. He thought he'd try to make dinner tonight, and to my surprise, is not doing too bad.
"He reprogrammed Shaun—the synth boy. Instead of wondering who I am now, he calls me Mom—acts like he's actually my child. It's like he understands who Father is, but doesn't make the connection that I'm his mom. Guess what he told me when I saw him today."
"Uh, I don't know." He throws the tatos in with the radstag roast and places the pan in the oven.
"He apologized for his dad's death. He apologized for Nate's death." I shake my head. "He not only thinks that Nate is his father, but he feels it was somehow his fault that he died.
"Then, he said if he ever had the chance, he'd want to see his grave, so he could remember it—remember him. He sounded so hopeful when he talked about the surface—not like the rest of those twats down there that think the Commonwealth is full of evil. If only they knew what is considered evil around here… Anyway, he legitimately sounded like he wanted to live up here instead. Crazy kid."
I had gotten so wrapped up in my retelling that I hadn't noticed Robert just leaning against the counter across from me. A small smile on his face, he says, "Seems to me that you like this kid."
"A little weirded out by him, sure, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't like him some." I can't help my own small grin. "I don't know how they got it so right, but he reminds me of what I pictured Shaun to be like at ten. Some of my wits and a whole lot of his dad's charm."
"Think you could sneak him out next time you go back?" he teases.
"Don't think so," I chuckle.
After we eat dinner—and I give Robert just all of the compliments on his roast—we hit the sack, ready for the day to be over with. It isn't until I wake up in the middle of the night dying of thirst that I notice he's not on his side of the bed. Forgetting my quest for water, I go through the house looking for him. Coming up empty, I decide to pull on my boots and the jacket to my drifter outfit I'd been wearing a lot recently—this is all I put on, and considering we'd both taken up the habit of sleeping in our underclothes, I feel a bit nippy without it. Searching the island proves rather useless, as I find the rest of our land to be empty as well. As I get even more nervous, I try my best to calm down, to no avail.
His clothes are gone, his gun is gone, he's gone. Where could he be this time of night? I check the boathouse—finally—and see that the boat is gone also. The hell? I sit down against the wall and decide to wait. He has to come back at some point, right?
I sit here and wait for what seems like hours. Finally, I allow myself to close my eyes. Just to rest them… But before I know it, I'm passed out cold—literally. It has to be around forty degrees Fahrenheit right now. After a little while, I have a dream I'm hearing a boat coming closer to me. Once it shuts off, I hear my name being called, then I'm being shaken lightly. I open my eyes to realize it's more than a dream.
Robert is crouched down in front of me, his face more than concerned. "Beth, what're you doing in the boathouse?" He feels my arms and legs. "You're freezing. How long have you been out here?" He takes his duster off and lays it on top of me before picking me up, bridal style. He heads to the house as I shiver in his arms.
"I d-don't know. Saw you w-weren't h-here. P-panicked." I lean into him more, relishing in his warmth. He continues to walk into the house and up the stairs, only stopping to place me on the bed and climb in himself. I gratefully grab at the blanket he pulls up to my shoulders, still staying close to warm me up faster.
After I stop shivering and am able to talk without the stutters, I ask, "Where were you?"
He looks at me with round eyes, as if I'd pulled him from a deep train of thought. "Oh, um… Danse needed help writing up a report from earlier. He thought it'd be a good idea if he told Maxson about Father's… condition, and Li's return."
Something seems a bit off about his response. Like he's tried hard to come up with an idea if I asked where he went—like he had an idea beforehand, at the ready, just in case. "Really?" I ask, one eyebrow raised. "Danse needed help?"
"Don't believe me, ask him yourself next time you see him. And that may be soon. Sounded like he wants to see your book collection, so he may be back here before you know it." He chuckles. Still, something is off about his response. Semi-detailed backstory, confidence in the aid of a story "participant," change of subject with the addition of a known distraction and/or proof of nervousness. He always knows that I love to hear him laugh. I can't help but to go through the steps a person takes when lying to assure the victim that their lies are actual truth.
Despite my years of training, so to say, I try my best to ignore my instinct and believe him. If he wanted me to know, he'd tell me. What could be so bad about it anyway? "Oh, okay," I chuckle along with him to try and show I hadn't just put his "performance" on a slab and dissected it with my precision of knowledge and experience of liars. He seems to believe it and, even though his tension was minimal to begin with, he instantly relaxes. Must've been important, whatever it was. He stands and takes the rest of his clothes off—save his boxers—and climbs back in, scooting back in close with me.
"Well, I hope the report ended up okay, since you had to help him," I tease.
"Oh," he says, feigning agitation. Dropping it, "The report went just fine. He did most of the work, actually. I only helped a little. In my opinion, he really outdid himself this time." His smile is genuine, despite his indifference toward the Brotherhood most of the time. I'm just looking too much into it. That's one of the things I do best. Chill out, Beth! I tell myself.
"Well, that's cool."
"Yeah, it is. Now, I can tell you're tired, and I know I'm pretty bushed myself. So, how about we get some sleep?"
I kick off my boots and shed myself of both my jacket and his duster without having to get up. It was pretty impressive actually. "Sounds good. Good night, baby."
He kisses my forehead. "Good night, love."
A few minutes after his chainsaw impersonation ensues, my mind is still wondering about it. What actually happened?
A/N: If only Danse could be instructed to leave his PA without any mods... *sigh*