A/N: Excuse the odd spelling, but it makes sense a bit later on if you'd played FO3. If not, it's not too hard to catch on. Just read it how it's written, and you'll be set.
44. Welcome Back
MacCready POV
Welcome Back by John Sebastian
"Watch your step," I tell my troupe as I open the door leading down into Little Lamplight. "I learned that the hard way once. Surprised it didn't leave a scar," I chuckle. Beth looks up from the ground to my face, as if in search of the scar in question. "You can't tell it now. Watch out!" I grip her arm as she begins to take a tumble—her own grip on Vitya tightening. "Need to keep your eyes peeled—especially in the entrance. Ground's pretty rough through here." I look to Duncan, Shaun, and Danse behind me. At least they seem to be doing okay… "There's going to be a gate up here," I continue. "Maybe I should do the talking. These kids don't easily trust 'mungos.'"
A few moments later, and I'm faced with the very gate I swore I'd never see again. The painted words are still there, warning all adults to stay out. I can't help a grin.
"Hey! Who awe you?" I notice a young man standing just on the other side of the gate—where the security's platform is. He speaks with a slight impediment. Why does his voice sound familiar?
"No reason to freak out," I tell him. I look at his face more and see he's around twenty years old, and he even looks familiar. "I'm just wanting to look around—show my family where I grew up."
"You gwew up hewe?" he asks, his speech impediment a little more pronounced.
"Yeah. Left when I was fifteen. Me and a girl. Went to Big Town for a while, but ended up moving around for a bit." I see he's looking at me harder, as if he'd trying to decipher if I'm trust worthy. Or perhaps he sort of recognizes me, too?
"And this is your famiwy?" I nod. He looks them over, and then it hits me.
"Biwwy?"
He looks at me with a slightly confused face—eyes squinted to see my better—before they open wide. "MacCweady?"
"Yeah," I laugh. "It's me."
"Oh, wow!" He looks to where the gate opener lever thing is, and says, "Open the gate!" He makes his way down the steps and, once the gate is raised, he comes out to greet me. He gives me a quick hug and steps back, looking at me. "Look at you! Aww grown up. Look, Sue!"
I see a young woman, somewhere in her mid-twenties, approaching us. "Wow. Mayor MacCready. Didn't think I'd ever see you back here."
If she wasn't wearing the hat she used to when we were kids, I wouldn't have recognized her. "Knock Knock?" She grins and waves at me as affirmation. "Wait. We're mungos now. Why are you guys still here?"
"Big Town got boring," Knock Knock—or as Biwwy called her by her real name, Sue—says. "The rules changed. We know now that mungos aren't so bad." She chuckles. "So, we moved back in. Well… us older ones, anyway. Biwwy got to stay, cause he wasn't sixteen yet."
"Stiww mayow," he proudly professes.
"Good for you," I pat him on the shoulder. In a change of topic, I gesture to the folks behind me. "I want to introduce you guys to my family." I notice both of the Lamplighters' faces seeming surprised at the word family, considering we were all orphans growing up.
I point to Danse, who always seems to be standing in the back. "This is a friend of ours. He may be brawny, but he's harmless."
"When I must be," he adds in, grinning sardonically.
"True," I chuckle. "These are my beautiful children," I indicate Vitya in Beth's arms, and wrap my own arms around the boys.
"Weird that he's blond," Sue notes, looking at Shaun's hair.
"There's a reason for that," I say. Moving on, I hug up the woman next to me. "This is my wife, Beth."
"Wife?" Biwwy asks—and I can see from the look on his face, he's thinking, That's not Lucy. He continues, "I mean, it's nice to meet you, ma'am. But… what happened to Wucy, RJ?"
"She died about five years ago," I tell him. "But not before we had a son." I move said son to be front and foremost. "This is Duncan."
"You look so much like your mom," Sue says, bending over to see his face better.
"I get that a lot," he says, leaning into me, nervous from the proximity of a stranger.
"You've gotten it twice, buddy," I laugh as he shrugs. I put my hand on Shaun's shoulder. "As for Shaun being blond, it's because he's Beth's from her previous marriage. That's why their hair colour is so similar." Both Biwwy and Sue nod, seeing where I'm coming from. "And this little thing…" I hold out my hands toward Beth, wanting Vitya. As soon as she sees me reaching for her, she's twisting herself into knots trying to get into my arms. "This is Victoria." She happily settles into my chest. "She's mine and Beth's. Total daddy's girl, if you couldn't tell already."
Biwwy laughs. "Pwetty sure I could."
Sue comes up closer, looking Victoria in the face—and she looks back just as calmly and evenly. She's never scared of strangers, I think with gratitude. "She's beautiful," she tells us. "Has your eyes." She notices Beth's blue irises and adds, "Well, maybe both of your guy's eyes. Where'd the red part of her hair come from, though?"
"Don't know," I admit. "Maybe a mixture of our hair shades?" Sue shrugs.
"How about you guys come in," Biwwy suggests. "Things haven't changed aww that much since you weft." As the six of us walk under the gate—Beth, Danse, and the boys glancing around at their new surroundings—Biwwy continues, "We have a few mowe kids now. But mainwy, it's just us. Angewa weft a few yeaws after you did, and Sammy not too wong after her. I think that's aww. Would you say, Sue?"
"Yeah. Pretty much everybody is still here. As I said before, the rules changed. We still welcome kids who want to live here, but there's not too many coming through anymore."
"How do you have room now? The Great Chamber was pretty cramped—even back when I was still here."
"We actuawwy cweared out Vault 87. So, we have some bunks in thewe. The Gweat Chambew is used mainwy for the smaww ones now." He chuckles. "They heawd stowies about the 'bad vault,' and twy not to step foot in thewe. Too scawy for them."
"You cleared it out?" I shake my head. "That's great. Is that the reason why the Brotherhood is having an easier time wiping them out on the surface?"
"Probably," Sue nods. "It's not too hard to kill what can't be replenished, you know."
We've stopped not too far from the office building near the door for some reason. Looking at just the outside makes memories of years past run through my head—and a curiosity. "Who's the doctor now?"
Biwwy laughs. "Well… you know how Bumble was awways with Wucy, twying to wearn medicine and whatnot?" I nod. "Can you guess who the doctow is, then?"
"Bumble," I grin. "She still a klutz?"
"Not so much," Sue replies. "She's got a steady hand, and knows her way around most of what we have problems with down here—rads, scrapes and the like. She'd make Lucy proud…"
"Well, she was like her little sister, so Lucy'd be proud anyway." I clear my throat. "She still go by Bumble, or…?"
"No. She goes by Betty. Most of us go by ouw weal names now. We outgwew ouw nicknames, I guess."
"It happens," I respond. "I just go by Robert now. Unless it's business—then I keep the MacCready thing," I chuckle. Wrapping my free arm around Beth, I continue, "My own wife didn't even know my name until we'd known each other for a couple weeks."
"I'm assuming you weren't married, though," Sue says, sarcasm clear on her face.
"Nah. Just a merc-boss relationship. Had a contract and everything."
"And that went out the window a few weeks in," Beth jokes, finally feeling comfortable enough to talk. Sue and Biwwy laugh.
"Eclair still here?" I ask.
"He had gone to Big Town," Sue tells me. "But, he got bored with their kitchen options and came back. Only took him a week to change his mind," she laughs.
"Well, we haven't eaten all day. I sure could use some food. How about you guys?" I turn to my boys, who nod furiously, cracking Sue up. "Let's go get some grub, then." I put my hands on their backs and lead them in the right direction—Beth and Danse behind me.
"Sure," Sue continues. "I'll go let Betty know you're here, grab Nick, and we'll meet you at Spelunkers."
"Man, oh, man!" Eclair comes out from behind the counter. "If it isn't our old mayor, coming to visit his old stomping ground." He strolls up to me and gives me a half handshake, half hug.
"How'd you recognize me?" I ask him. "I've been gone for almost a whole decade."
"I know, brother. But how can I forget your dreadful mug, eh? Turning into a mungo doesn't get rid of ugly, you know." He laughs, more carefree than I remember him being. I just give him a face, knowing he's not serious.
Suddenly, I hear a young woman from behind me call out, "RJ!"
I do a one eighty and see who I assume is Bumble—or rather, Betty—running up to me. Sue and her twin brother, Nick, aren't too far behind her. "I hear you're going by Betty these days, Bumble."
She gives me a big hug. "Not too clumsy anymore, see. Also, I figured I might as well go with my real name, since everyone else was." She looks around me, giving Beth a long look before asking, "Where's Lucy? She didn't come with you?"
I know how close Betty was with Lucy, so I'm not sure how to say it. I look to Beth who grins encouragingly. Finally, I tell her, "She didn't make it, Betty. She died a while back. I'm sorry." I can see she's clearly troubled by the news.
She's silent for a bit before she says, "At least we have memories. And I have most of my medical knowledge from her, so that's cool." She smiles weakly.
"Yeah. You know she loved you like a sister." She nods. "So," I change the subject, "how old is the resident doctor now anyway?"
"Seventeen," she says, blushing slightly at my mention of her title, or maybe her age—I'm not sure which one. "I'm glad I don't have to leave Lamplight. As I was getting closer to sixteen, I was becoming really scared of having to go up to the surface. Now I don't, and it's awesome."
"It is," I agree with a grin. "Sometimes, I really miss the comfort of a rocky ceiling above my head. But, I'm used to the sky now, so it's not so bad." I laugh.
Suddenly, Betty notices Duncan. "Oh, wow." She kneels down next to him. "How old are you?"
"I'll be seven in August," Duncan responds, leaning into Beth this time due to yet another stranger talking to him.
"You look so much like your mom." She seems amazed.
I ask her, "How do you know he's not mine and Beth's?"
"Like I said, he looks like his mom. I spent how many years in the clinic with her, RJ?" She again turns her attention to Duncan. "Your mom taught me a lot about how to become a doctor. She was really cool."
He looks down. "I don't really remember her anymore."
"He was not even two when she died," I tell her, to which she nods.
"But," Duncan says, "Beth is my mom now. And I love her a lot." He gives her a squeeze of a hug.
"Well, I'm glad you have her, then." Betty smiles at Beth. One thing leads to another, and unexpectedly, everybody is talking as if it's not sometime around 1:00 a.m.
Welcome back, I think to myself, happy to be here.
What seems like hours pass by with ease. I reintroduce the company with me as more "kids" I know walk into Spelunkers. Zip, who turns out to have been named Ricky all along—and who I swear was just about the most annoying child back before I left—comes in, and I'm surprised to see that's he's actually mellowed out a lot. Still addicted to Nuka-Cola, but what can a guy do? Then I'm quite shocked to see Penny come in—she's always been one to be asleep this time.
"RJ?"
"Hey, Penny. What've you been up to?"
She doesn't seem as startled or happy to see me as the rest of them were. "Not a whole lot. I'm not on the scav team anymore—I took over teaching since Joseph—" She stops short.
"…Since Joseph what?" I look to Eclair, Biwwy.
Nick speaks up. "Joseph died a few months ago."
"What?" I look around to all my old friends' faces—they look down or away in lamenting. "How?"
When no one answers, Nick tells me. "He went out to look for some more books or holotapes—you know he was always wanting more learning material. Anyway… he went a little too close to the surface entrance of the vault—got a really bad case of rad poisoning. By the time he got back, there was nothing Betty could do. The cave fungus that heals rads wasn't enough. Not even Rad-Away could have done it fast enough…" He takes off the hat that matches his sister's. "I'm sorry, RJ. I know you two were pretty close."
"Yeah…" I don't know what else to say besides, "I'm sorry, Penny—everyone. He was a good kid, and I bet an even better man. …Where is he?"
Sue says, "We buried him not too far from the vault door down here. Figured he could rest there."
"I bet he can," I agree.
After a minute, everybody looking dog-dead tired, Biwwy suggests that we all go to bed. "We can aww tawk in the mowning. RJ, how about we settwe you and youw famiwy in the new bunks? Thewe's pwenty of woom for aww of you."
"Sounds nice." I move Vitya from one arm to the other, trying not to jostle her so much as to wake her.
As we follow Biwwy toward the Great Chamber—Beth behind me—she quietly asks, "We don't have to go through Murder Pass, right?" As I chuckle—shaking my head and looking back at her—I see Danse seeming confused.
"Used to be infested with super mutants," I tell him, easing his puzzlement. "But, no," I answer Beth. "We don't have to go through Murder Pass." I chuckle. "The door down here has been unlocked for a good while now." I think of why and instantly become solemn. "Joseph unlocked it before I even left…" She notices my mood change and puts her hand on my shoulder in understanding.
Biwwy shows us where we'll be staying, and we all get settled into our bunks, as he had called them. As we get ready to turn in, I tell Beth I want to go see my friend's grave—that I felt bad just walking by it without acknowledging him.
"That'd be good. Do you want me to go with you?" she asks, picking Victoria right back up from the bed.
"I don't think it'll hurt," I tell her.
As we're up and about to leave, I hear Danse say, "Here." I look over to him across the way—not too far from the boys' bunks. "I can take her from you—give you free arms," he says, indicating Vitya.
"I don't want to take the chance of waking her when we come back and get her," Beth says.
"You don't have to. I think she likes me enough by now that she can sleep with me—if you're okay with it."
"Are you sure?" I ask. "You're not used to having a baby in the bed with you."
"I don't move much, if that's what you're getting at." He gives me a crooked grin.
After a moment, Beth says, "Sure," and hands her to him. He sits up in the bed and takes her gingerly, careful not to make her rise from her slumber with a vengeance as she does on the occasion. As we're about to walk out, I see him place her—still careful—against his chest, and slowly lays back onto the cot. I guess he saw her sleeping like that on me back at Kate's house. Once he's settled, and I'm both shocked and happy to see Vitya still sleeping away, I leave the room with Beth, ready to see my friend again.
"Hey. Been a while, huh?"
I stand over my deceased friend's burial place, not sure what to say. Beth stands to the side of me, rubbing small, understanding circles on my lower back. "Just talk to him," she advises me.
I clear my throat and start over. "I'm sorry, Joseph. If I were here—instead of in Boston—I may could have helped you. Like back when we tried to get into 87. You let me help you get books and holotapes back then. Maybe you would have let me this time, too."
I feel the back of my eyeballs start to swell, preparing for tears. I just hold it back—man up. When the feeling is all but gone, I resume.
"You were a good person. Too good of a person to die from something as bad as radiation poisoning. Like Lucy with the ghouls… I guess you two are somewhere reminiscing, huh?" I take a steadying breath. "I should have been there to save your life—like you saved me from that super mutant. I'm sorry I wasn't able to."
Beth wraps her arm around my side. "It's not your fault, Robert. You didn't even know. And we were still in the Commonwealth." She gives me a small hug and repeats, "It's not your fault," in a quiet voice.
"I know… I just wish I could have done something." I know she knows the feeling—but instead of being hundreds of miles away and being completely unaware of the situation, she was trapped behind glass, not ten feet from her own dilemma, watching it as it played out right in front of her. Talking to the mound of dirt again, I say, "Well, Joseph. I'm beat. Think I'll go get some sleep now. Rest easy, friend." I turn from him and walk back to the bunks with Beth next to me.
I wake up to my daughter's tiny hands trying to pry my mouth open, and my wife doing nothing but laughing about it. "Morning," she says once my eyes are open, letting Vitya scooch her way toward me on the bed. When she's close enough, she clings to my neck like there's no tomorrow. "Danse said she did good last night. She didn't freak when she saw him instead of us or anything."
"Didn't think she would, honestly." I sit up carefully, loosening Victoria's grip on me. I can hear Duncan laughing as Shaun reads something to him. From the sounds of the jokes I've heard since I was their age, they somehow got a hold of Sue's joke book she took from the vault years ago. "You guys eat anything yet?"
"Nah. We were waiting for you to wake up. But Tori here couldn't wait any longer, so she decided to stick her hand in your mouth," she grins.
"And who allowed that?" I ask as she chuckles. I rub the sleep out of my eyes—or rather try to rub the sleep out of my eyes. "Man, I could not sleep last night." I stand and put my duster over the jeans and shirt I've been wearing since leaving Kate's, and ended up sleeping in.
"I could tell," she replies. "You were all over the place trying to get comfortable. I think it was a good thing Vitya slept with Danse. He's somewhere around here, by the way." She looks toward the door leading to the Great Chamber.
I blink and open my eyes wide, immediately awake. "What did you just say?"
"About you not being comfortable?"
"No."
"About… her sleeping with Danse?" She looks at me confusedly.
"No. You just called her 'Vitya.'"
She nearly looks horrified. Her eyes are round as rocks when she says, "I'm pretty sure I didn't."
"Wanna bet?" I ask, not able to hold in my laughter. "You just did. I heard you!"
"Nah," she rebuts. "I didn't." She acts like she knows she did, but won't admit it.
"Duncan? Did you just hear Mom call Victoria 'Vitya?'" He looks at me suddenly.
"Sorry. I was listening to Shaun's joke. It's about a guy named Noah, and it's good!" He turns his attention back to Shaun, seeming to not even care about what I'm talking about.
"You did, too." I take Victoria from her, still laughing. "But you're not going to admit to it, are you?"
"No," she says. "Cause there's nothing to admit. I didn't call her 'Vitya!'"
"Uh-huh," I say sarcastically, starting to walk toward Spelunkers, the boys right behind me. I notice she's not following. "We're gonna go get some breakfast. Aren't you coming?"
"Only if you stop talking about the whole 'Vitya' thing." She looks at me with a sort of pouting face. Oh, yeah, I think. She definitely called her Vitya just now.
"Fine. I won't bring it up." I grin at her, already finding it hard to keep my word.
I could have sworn that only two days had passed when we left Little Lamplight for DC—but in fact, nearly a whole week had gone by—and it just seemed a lot shorter due to us having a good time.
I got to see—and introduce my family to—the remaining Lamplighters I knew from my childhood. It was great to see all of them again. We even got to meet some of the new kids—and I assured them they were in good hands with the "mungos" in charge. I also got to show my party around, as Eclair had called it, my old stomping ground. I showed Shaun and Duncan where I'd play before I became mayor, Danse where the armoury was, and Beth where Lucy and I used to run off to when we had the chance. They all seemed to enjoy themselves immensely. But it unfortunately came to an end far too soon, and we were headed back toward the city again.
I'd told Kate I wasn't sure if we were going to be stopping by again—and I'm glad I did. Because not only Danse, but the boys and Beth wanted to see the monuments up close. I couldn't say no. So, of course, we're on our way to the middle of the "DC Hellhole" as Three Dog—the radio DJ—calls it. And he's not exactly wrong.
It takes a couple days, but we finally make it to the river in one piece. We travel along it southward until we reach a good spot to cross and, a couple hours later, we're at the Lincoln Memorial. There are a handful of escaped and freed slaves residing here, but they allow us to look around, calling us "tourists." Beth just laughs at this name and continues to walk around.
"Never been to this memorial before," she says idly. "I've been to the Washington, the Jefferson Memorials—but not the Lincoln. This is cool." She stands in front of the giant stone statue of who I assume is President Lincoln. I don't know what he looks like, so all I can do is assume it's him.
"Been to the Capital Building?" I ask as I walk up behind her.
"Yeah. Obviously, it was a long time ago." She chuckles. "I'm so sure it's different now. Everything is."
"Well, unless it had a gaping hole in the dome part, I'd say it is different."
She sighs, "Yeah." She looks over to Shaun and Duncan who are trying their best to read the engravings on the wall of the big building, then over to Danse—who has apparently seen this memorial before—as he plays with Vitya in his arms.
"Well, it's not like I haven't seen this place before," I tell her. "So, whenever you and the boys are ready, we can go to the Washington one." She nods before walking over to the wall with the inscriptions.
When we leave, and are moving closer to the Washington Memorial, Danse suddenly hands Vitya to Beth and swears under his breath. "What's wrong?" she asks.
"I forgot the Brotherhood kept this memorial under surveillance. There could be soldiers up ahead." As we keep walking, we're dismayed to find he's right.
"Here. Wear this." I throw my hat at him and he places it on his head with no questions or comments. "Still want to stop here?" I ask.
"You guys can go up if you want," Danse tells us. "I'll stay down here. Might be a good idea if I keep my distance, actually."
"They'll probably notice," Beth adds in. "I mean, you're traveling with us, then suddenly go your own way? You know the Brotherhood trains to notice every detail." He nods gravely. "I guess just stay with us, but try not to draw too much attention." He nods again, already trying not to speak in case someone hears him.
When we get to the front of the obelisk, there's only one soldier in power armour present. "What's your business here?" she asks. I swear I recognize her voice, but who's to say, since she's wearing a helmet, and therefore sounds different than normal.
"My family and I are sightseeing," I tell her, Beth sandwiching the boys between her and myself—Danse way in the back, keeping his head down.
"Who sightsees anymore? Kind of a thing of the past, wouldn't you say?" She looks from my face—altogether skipping Beth's—and looks directly at Danse. Crap. This is what Beth was worrying about.
"You know what?" I say abruptly, again gaining the Brotherhood soldier's attention at once. "I think we'll skip this monument. We've all seen it up close, so we can go now. No need to go to the top anyway, right?"
I know the boys are disappointed, but I also know they at least somewhat understand Danse's safety is in danger. So, we all turn to leave, Danse bringing in the rear, as usual. Until the soldier says something.
"Danse?"
We all stop dead in our tracks, not sure what to do. We could kill her, I think. She's the only one here. Nobody has to know. It could have just been a wandering Raider, or a stray super mutant who killed her. I place my hand on the emergency pistol I keep in the waist of my pants, just in case I must go through with it.
Although Beth and the boys stay turned facing the other direction, Danse and I turn to look at the woman. "What?" Danse replies, dejection in his voice.
"I knew it was you!" she says. Instead of raising her rifle higher—or taking any sort of defensive stance—she ejects out of her power armour. And now I see why I recognized her voice.
"Haylen?" Danse utters, flabbergasted.
She runs up to him and gives him a big hug. He doesn't reciprocate for a moment, still dazed about what just happened. But then he slowly bends down to her level and hugs her back, happy to see her. "What are you doing here?" she asks him.
"We're on 'vacation,'" he tells her. He points to Beth and I. "They asked if I wanted to come, and I had nothing else to do, so here I am."
Haylen finally looks at Beth. "Oh, hey! I didn't even see you. Too busy trying to identify this guy." She slaps Danse in the arm. "Oh! You had a baby?" she asks, walking over to where Beth still stands, shocked it all turned out okay.
"Oh, um, yeah. Victoria," Beth manages to get out.
"She's gorgeous." Haylen turns to me. "Sorry I didn't realize who you were. You look different without your hat." She moves to Danse and snatches it off his head, bringing it to me, and placing it upon my own head. "There. Now I know you," she chuckles. Looking back to Danse, "So, how's life? It's been a minute."
"It has," he says. "Life's alright. I have two nephews and a niece now, so to say. Well, she's actually my goddaughter."
Haylen smiles. "That's great. I'm happy for you."
"Why are you here in DC? What happened to being in the Commonwealth?" he asks her.
"Maxson moved a bunch of us back here to the Capital Wasteland. Said he didn't need so many troops now, what with the Institute being gone." She sighs. "I don't even know how I ended up on monument duty. Who thought it was a good idea to put a scribe in power armour and let her guard a giant, molded rock? This was not in my job description," she laughs.
"Yeah, I was kinda wondering the same thing," Danse chuckles.
After Danse and Haylen stood there talking for a little while, he suddenly looked to us and suggested we continue our tour of the DC Strip. Go check out Underworld, he had told us. I'll be here when you get back. So, off we went—both Beth and I thought we'd give him and Haylen their space, time to talk and catch up.
The boys really enjoyed Underworld for some reason. Maybe because it was in an old museum, or maybe because they've never seen so many non-feral ghouls in one place. Either way, we decided to grab some food at the Ninth Circle—and was surprised when we saw a "smoothskin" named Sydney in there.
As the sun went down, and the moon started to rise from behind the Capital Building, I was glad for the absence of super mutants in the area. Last time I'd been through here, they were so thick and swarming that it was hard to move from point A to point B without getting shot at by a hulking green monstrosity. Now? Not one in sight. And I find myself grateful to both the Brotherhood—and now that I know they'd helped—the Lamplighters' contributions to the absence of super mutants in DC.
When we got back to Danse, we found him and Haylen sitting down, leaning against the gate just chatting away. It was discussed that he'd meet us in a couple days in Rivet City's marketplace. Beth was nervous about leaving him to make the trip by himself, of course—but every single one of us told her it'd all work out. He's a grown man, I'd said. And with combat training. Stop worrying so much. You're going to get an ulcer one of these days.
We continued through the Strip, exploring old museums, reading through historical plaques, and wondering around destroyed displays. Beth told me she'd be surprised to make it through the tour without tearing up a little—but she made me proud by being the strong woman I know she is.
We decided it'd be best to stay in one of the museums for the night. But we were back at it in the morning. Once we reached the Capital Building, and spent at least an hour in there, we started toward Rivet City. It was already late again, and all five of us were exhausted and ready to flop down onto the nearest surface for a nap. But we persevered and made it to the old aircraft carrier before the hour became too late.
We rent out the same room we'd stayed in on our first night in DC. Beth lays Vitya down onto our bed and the boys crash in the other one. "Did Danse say a time to be expecting him?" she asks me. "I'm too tired to remember if he did or not."
"I don't think so," I respond. "He just said he'd be here tomorrow."
Making sure the boys are settled down, Beth and I lay down ourselves, ready to recharge from a long couple days.
"I had fun today and yesterday," she tells me, too tired to even keep her eyes open. "Thanks for a great trip." She feels around until she finds my hand and grips onto it.
"Thanks for bringing it up," I counter. "Wouldn't be here if you hadn't of said anything." I squeeze her hand. "So, thank you."
"Mm." I grin. She probably didn't even hear what I said, she's so pooped.
Shortly after she falls asleep, I pass out. And I'm out all night. When morning comes, I wake easily—feeling refreshed and ready to head home. Once Shaun, Duncan, and Beth are awake, we all head down to the marketplace—where Danse said he'd meet us today.
Picking out a table at Gary's Galley—the settlement's restaurant—we all place our orders and talk as we wait for them to come out.
"What part did you boys like best about the Strip?" I ask them.
Shaun speaks up first. "I really liked Underworld. I've never seen so many ghouls that weren't feral in one place. It was cool. What about you, Duncan?" he asks, turning to his brother.
"I don't know," he responds, taking a drink of his water. "Even though we used to live here, I don't remember seeing any of those places."
I tell him, "That's because when your mom and I went there, you were just a baby."
"Oh. That's probably why, then." He thinks for a moment before answering, "I liked the museum."
"We went to a few," Shaun points out. "Which one?"
"All of them, I guess." Duncan grins. "I like seeing old stuff—like from before the War. It's real neat."
"Couldn't agree with you more, kiddo," I hear from behind me. Turning around, I see Danse standing there.
"Hey! When'd you get here?" Beth asks, standing to give the man a hug—glad to see he's okay.
"Little bit ago," he replies. "I only heard Duncan say that last part, so…" He grabs a chair, pivoting it so as to sit on it backwards, and sits next to me on the end. He places his own order and complains, "Longest walk ever."
"I'm so sure you've taken longer treks," I tease him. "We just did a couple days ago."
"True. But it seemed extra long last night."
"Last night? Didn't you sleep?" Beth asks.
"Nope. I made the trip after the sun had set—didn't have time to sleep. But it was long cause I was alone," he razzes her.
Beth smacks my arm. "Told you he shouldn't have made the trip by himself."
"Not my fault!" I tell her, giving her a weird look for having smacked me.
"It's not, Beth," Danse backs me up. "I wanted to stay and visit with a colleague, and you guys had places to go. It made sense."
After Beth takes a deep breath—trying to let it go—she asks, "So, how is Haylen anyway? You find out why she was stuck there instead of the Citadel?"
"No," he tells us. "She's not even sure herself. But she's doing good. Said she gets bored a lot, so seeing us was a nice change."
"You mean seeing you, not us," Beth corrects him. I look over to him and see his cheeks a bit pink. I chuckle.
"Sounds like you had a nice time," I say.
"We did," he agrees, smiling at the memory of it. I know that look.
"You shagged the old woman, didn't you?" I grin at him as he raises his head to look at me, eyes wide.
"Robert!" Beth scolds.
"What?" I laugh. "A man can't ask another man a question?"
"Yeah, but not that one!" She looks to Danse, who looks mortified—making me think I'm right about it even more. "I apologize for his rudeness."
"It's okay," he assures her, his face—and even neck—becoming more red by the second. After a minute, he moves his head in my direction, but doesn't quite look at me. "And, um… to answer your question: …Yeah," he simply says.
"Oooh!" I can feel my whole face widen in shock and happiness for him. "You lucky dog!" Now is my turn to smack someone, as I raise my fist and lob it into his arm.
"Dad, what does 'shag' mean?" Shaun asks me.
"Don't you dare answer that!" Beth hisses at me. To Shaun, "Nothing, sweetie. They're just talking about some adult things." I can feel my son's eyes boring holes into the side of my face—along with my wife—but I'm too tied up with looking at Danse's expression to really pay attention.
Before I can make any other comments, Gary's daughter—Angela, who waitresses here—brings out our food, including Danse's quick order of iguana bits. We're all so hungry—especially Danse from his long trip—that we eat in silence. But I'm determined to not let him keep the details from me. Beth would be calling me nosy if she knew my plans—even telling me to stay out of it, since it's none of my business. And that's exactly why I won't be telling her about said plans—I'll be asking him all about it in private once we're home.
Now that we're all together, we gather our belongings after we finish eating and say goodbye to the Capital Wasteland. I really was glad to have come—and to have stayed nearly a month in total. But all good things must come to an end. Plus, with Shaun's birthday coming up rather soon, I know Beth would want to be home to celebrate it, instead of being stuck on a boat and having to make the best out of a can of Cram to suffice as a birthday cake—which none of us would enjoy. Well… maybe with the exception of Vitya.
When we get home finally, and unpack the few things we had taken, we find it weird that Curie hasn't come to say hello and ask how our trip was. As Beth starts making an actual cake for Shaun, I head to Curie's house to see if she's there. She's not—but a note in elegant font is.
Monsieur and Madame:
I know this is a poor way of giving you this news, but I am not sure when you will return.
I am headed to Sanctuary Hills. They are trying to build a community there, and I feel my presence would be more appreciated where I can be used. Also, there may be more technology northwest of here. I have seen most of what Spectacle Island has to offer, and, as a scientist, I feel it is my duty to move on—to find more things to study.
I know this must be hard to understand—why I am leaving, and why I chose to write a note instead of tell you face to face. I just think it will be easier this way. For all of us.
Come visit me sometime!
-Curie
When I show the note to Beth, she can't believe Curie would just up and leave like that. She storms out the door, heading toward the boathouse to leave immediately, when I remind her, "Shaun's birthday?"
She walks back into the house and says she'll leave in the morning. "I know you're tired from our trip to DC," she tells me. "I'll go to Sanctuary by myself and see what's up."
After everybody gets some cake to celebrate Shaun's twelfth birthday, it's decided that Beth would leave in the morning and take both boys with her. Vitya would stay here with me and Danse. Perfect, I think. I get to hear the details about Danse and Haylen. Finally. I grin, finding it hard to wait for the morning.
"Nice to be back in our own bed," Beth says as she sinks down onto the mattress.
"It is," I agree.
After a minute, she guesses, "You're going talk to Danse about Haylen first thing after I leave, aren't you?"
I nod. "You know it."
She sighs then chuckles. "Just can't keep your nose out of it, huh?" She faces me. "What is it with men and sex?"
I widen my eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just curious."
"And I'm not?" she counters. "I just like to keep it a thing between my husband and I. You don't think it's weird—you asking him about it? Not even a little bit?"
"Hey, I'm just curious," I repeat. "I guess it's different for women, but for us men…" I lean up on my elbow and brace my hand on her other side, so I tower over her. "It's just another topic of conversation. Since we can't talk about who makes the best handbags, or what colour we'll paint our nails."
"We don't talk about those things anymore. We talk about more important stuff—like what kind of gun is our favourite, and what guys have the nicest butts."
"Same thing as sex," I tease her, leaning down to kiss her neck.
"Not exactly," she argues, starting to get breathless already.
"Close enough." I look up at her. "So, who has the nicest butt?"
"Obviously, you." She leans up to kiss me back.
"Well, you said so yourself," I say around her lips.
"Hm?"
"Nice to be back in our own bed." I pull away from her to see her impish grin she reserves for moments like these.
A/N: Hehe... Butts...
I know I'm immature, but it's okay. I love it, to be honest.