45. Dick's Everywhere
MacCready POV
I wake in the morning wearing not much more than the sheets. Beth had apparently fed Vitya recently, as she lays on her side, her head resting in the palm of her hand. She dressed in only a big shirt. And she's staring at me. "Morning." I take her other hand in my own and give it a kiss.
"Morning." I close my eyes again, not quite ready to get up.
"So, I have a question," Beth says, drawing me from my doze.
"What's that?" I open one eye and look at her—she's still laying in the same position.
"How did my bra end up on the ceiling fan last night?" She looks up above the bed, to the fan, where the bra she speaks of slowly makes slow, lazy circles.
I faintly remember all but ripping it off her in the heat of the moment last night, and tossing it somewhere. Apparently, it took more of a vertical flight than a horizontal one. I shake my head, pretending to not know. "No clue."
"Uh-huh." She smirks at me. "You know how—you just don't want to fess up." I shrug, allowing that much. She chuckles. "Anyway," she starts another topic. "I guess I should get ready to leave here in a bit." She stands on the bed, snatching her brassiere from near the ceiling, and chooses her clothing. As she's pulling on a pair of jeans, she asks, "Can you get the boys up while I make breakfast?"
"I'll do one better than that," I respond, finally crawling out of bed myself. "I'll make breakfast while you wake them up." I pull on some jeans myself and walk over to Vitya—who I see is lying in her crib contently, playing with her fingers. She sees me and raises her arms, smiling up at me.
As I carry Victoria into the kitchen and start to prepare some food, I hear Beth waking Duncan. He gets up easily and comes downstairs, sitting in the living room still half asleep. Now I hear her trying to wake Shaun. Trying being the key word here. I hear him just grunt, and I imagine him rolling over, trying to ignore her and go back to sleep.
"Duncan?" He looks through the door at me, blinking several times in hopes of his eyes focusing.
"Hm?" He rubs his face, attempting to wake up more.
"Think you can help Mom wake up Shaun? You seem to do pretty well at it."
Without a word, he stands and heads back up the stairs, and—within a few minutes—he, Shaun, and Beth all come down and sit at the table, picking up a few fried tato patties and some scrambled Mirelurk eggs. Once I bite into the food myself, I'm happy to find that it turned out better than I thought. Vitya seems to think so, too, as she happily takes the small bites of egg Beth gives her.
After breakfast—and a few more minutes of them getting ready—Beth and the boys are ready to head to Sanctuary.
"I'll miss you," I tell Beth and the boys as they board the boat with their rucksacks. I shift Vitya in my arms. "You boys keep your mom safe, alright?"
"We will, Dad," Duncan replies. "Now that I have Shaun's pistol, we can both take care of her now." He smiles at Beth, and she at him.
After Shaun's birthday celebration yesterday, Beth and I discussed "upgrading" his weapon. So, we gave him a lever-action rifle, and he seems to love it already. Since he had gotten something better, we gave Duncan the 10mm pistol Shaun was carrying around with him—an upgrade of his own.
We say our farewells, and off they go. As soon as they're out of the boathouse—and well on their way north—I spin on my heel, and make my way to Danse's house, knowing I'm being far too nosy. But I don't care enough to turn and leave, so I knock on the door once I'm in front of it.
"Hey, Robert." He holds his arms out as soon as he sees Vitya. "Hey, Victoria!" She responds to him almost as enthusiastically as she does with me. She raises her tiny arms toward him, happy and smiling. "So," Danse continues as she settles in her godfather's hold. "I'm just going to assume since Beth left, you're here for details about what happened back in DC." He leaves me and the open door behind as he heads toward the couch.
Leaving the door standing open as is, I walk through the frame and sit on his bench press across from him. "I'd say you know me pretty well, Danser." I cross my ankle on top of my knee, waiting for him to elaborate. However, he just sits there, watching Victoria play with the teddy bear he now keeps on his couch for when she's here.
"I don't want to discuss it with a baby here," he tells me, his excuse to not talk about it.
"She's seven months old!" I exclaim. "It's not like she'll know what you're talking about. C'mon, I'm curious." As the silence drags on, I swear he's serious about what he said. But then he speaks.
"I'm not really one for details," he finally says, still looking down at her. "But, I will say this much:
"When you, Beth, and the kids left, Haylen and I just talked for a long time. It'd been a while since I was exiled, and we haven't seen each other since—we only spoke over your ham radio a time or two. And you saw, by the time you guys came back, we were plenty comfortable, leaning against the barricades. I'm not even sure how long it took for us to finally sit down—my feet didn't even hurt standing like that until she'd mentioned how good the ground looked for a seat." He chuckles. "Anyway… after you'd come back, and we talked about meeting in Rivet City, she said she wanted to show me the view from the top of the monument." He smirks as he says, "I shouldn't have fallen for it, but… Oh, well."
He takes a deep breath. "She told me that she loved me. That she had for a long time." His thick brows knit together. "I'd always just seen her as a comrade in arms, a good friend. But once she said that, I realized that—in a way—I guess I've kinda loved her back for a while." He focuses his eyes back to the present, again looking to the infant on his lap. "Anyway, we were alone, one thing lead to another, and the night ended up being longer than anticipated." He clears his throat, clearing nervous in talking about it, and not wishing to expand any further.
"Well," I say, trying to keep my imagination at bay. "Sounds like you had a good time. She going to be moving back to Boston now?"
"Uh… no. She's stationed in DC now, and it doesn't look like that's going to change anytime soon." He moves the teddy bear playfully in front on Vitya while frowning slightly.
"Do you love her? Like, in your guts? I noticed a little bit ago, you said you kinda did."
He looks up at me. "Honestly… I'm not sure." He hands Victoria the bear and holds her closer to him. "I'd have to be with her more to know. And that's sorta out of the question. If only I were still with the Brotherhood…"
"But wouldn't that be deemed fraternalization?"
He nods. "Our other brothers and sisters did a decent enough job hiding it most of the time. We wouldn't have been the only couple in the faction." He looks to the teddy bear as it falls out of Vitya's grasp—she'd fallen asleep right there in his arms. He smiles at her. "Anyway. It was a one night thing," he sums up. "I'm just glad to be home with my family now. The whole situation was confusing, and kind of hurt my head."
I chuckle. "Yeah. Women can do that."
It's been several days since Beth and the boys left. For the past few nights, Danse has been coming over to help watch Vitya and have dinner with us. He told me he knows what it's like to be alone suddenly, and doesn't want me to feel that. And—although he wouldn't admit to it—I'm pretty sure Victoria was the main reason. She has him wrapped around her little finger so much.
As we're finishing up tonight's leftover stew, I hear a couple of pairs of small feet running through the front door. "We're home, Dad!" Duncan yells.
I set my spoon down and walk into the living room as I see the boys drop their bags onto the floor. They each give me an overdue hug, then dash into the kitchen, having smelled food.
Beth puts her own bag next to theirs and walks up to me, showing a small yet heartfelt smile. Wrapping her arms around me, I all but absorb her into my own body. After a minute, I pull back, asking, "So, what happened?"
She sighs. "Curie isn't even in Sanctuary anymore." She flops down onto the nearest armchair, tired from the trip. "Preston said she was there for a little while, but then left suddenly. She left him a note like she did us, although it wasn't as long or detailed. He said she was probably headed back to 81." She sniffs the air. "Stew?"
I nod. "Leftovers."
"Get me some?" she asks, looking beat.
"Sure." I head back into the kitchen to get her a bowl of the grub. I see Shaun holding Victoria as he and Duncan eat. I'm impressed he's actually able to balance his baby sister and eat at the same time.
"They won't let me leave," Danse chuckles. "Your boys are holding me hostage."
"They're vicious," I say, earning a round of giggles from the so called "captors," as Beth walks from the living room to the table. I look to her as she takes her bowl from me. "Would you want to go check on her—see if she's settled?"
Beth shakes her head. "We shouldn't. We just got back—again. And although Duncan and Shaun aren't as used to travel as I am, they're still full of energy. You saw," she chuckles. "And I'm in no way ready to go back out. I'm pooped." She stands to retrieve a bottle of water.
"In a few days?" I ask her. "After you've recouped?"
"I don't know if they'd want to." She looks to the boys, who are just finishing their own bowls of stew. "Would you want to go back out in a few days?"
Duncan shakes his head. "I kinda wanna stay home." Shaun nods in agreement.
"Well, there's your answer." Beth sits and takes a bite, nodding in approval.
"If you want to—and feel like it," Danse says, "I could stay here with them and Victoria—let you two go back out into the wasteland. It's been a while since you've been able to go without worrying about your kids."
"Would you be able to handle three children?" I ask him, almost skeptically.
He gives me a tired look. "I do quite often here at home anyway. I think you forget how often the boys come over to my house, and how much Vitya likes me." He takes her back from Shaun. "Isn't that right, sweetheart?" She smiles at him in response. He smirks at me in return, as if her grin proved him right all the more.
"What do you think?" I ask Beth. "You, me—the beautiful wide open spaces of downtown Boston." I chuckle at my sarcasm. "Sound fun?"
She sighs. "It has been a while…"
"Go," Shaun says as he takes his and Duncan's bowls to the sink. "You guys deserve some time off. Danse is capable."
"I know Danse is capable," I reply sardonically while I rub his hair out of its place.
"Then it won't be a problem," Danse says. "We'll figure something out. Right, guys?" The boys nod.
"Alright," Beth declares. "We'll go in a few days then."
After a few days' worth or recuperation, Beth and I took off toward Vault 81. The boat ride there seemed shorter than normal for me, but for Beth—it was as long as ever. But we finally made it, and are now descending into the big nuclear bunker.
The Overseer, Gwen McNamara, says she hasn't seen hide or hair of the woman we described to her. She asks, "You said she was a nanny bot down here that worked on a cure for the disease Austin had?"
"Yeah," Beth answers. "She lived with us for a while, but then she was gone when we came back from our last big trip. I checked around to see if I could find her someplace else, but no luck. I had gotten indication that she was headed here."
"Unfortunately, I think your informant was wrong. We haven't seen any woman going by the name 'Curie.' I'm sorry."
"Well, thanks for your time anyway," I tell the lady. "I guess we'll keep looking."
Beth and I turn to leave, disappointed that nobody in the vault has seen Curie—not the guards, nor the residents. And now that we've checked, not even the Overseer.
"She has to be somewhere, right?" Beth muses aloud. "Maybe she told Preston she was coming here but changed her mind on the way?" She looks to me, saying, "I hope she's okay, Robert. She hasn't had the experience out here that you and I have had. What if she got hurt?" Her face starts to border on panic as she asks, "What if she's dead?"
"I'm sure she's just fine," I try to assure her, although I'm not feeling too certain about it myself. "She's a scientist, so she can at least apply that somehow, right?" Beth looks like I've lost my mind—How can a scientist survive out here? "Like, she'll know what can be ate, and what's bad for you. Same with water. She may not be the most capable person when it comes to defense, but she is smart." We board the elevator, ready to be taken to the top. "She's fine," I repeat.
Before the door to the elevator can close, we hear a woman call out to us. "Monsieur! Madame!" I put my arm out to catch the door.
"Curie?" Beth calls back.
"Oiu!" Curie stops in front of us as we step out of the elevator. She panting quite heavily, still not quite used to breathing, nevertheless breathing hard. "I was down in the secret vault, when I heard you asking for me." She's probably talking about the sound system Vault-Tec had installed to listen in on their "subjects" who lived in the vault.
Beth walks up to her and gives her a hug. "I was so worried about you, Curie. Why did you just run off like that, leaving a note and expecting us to not try and find you?"
"I do not know," she says, looking to the ground in sudden conviction, and finally catching her breath. "I told you in my note that I felt all of the island had been explored. It has always been my dream to travel the world—to try and find other men and women of science—and to try and further scientific knowledge. It is hard to do this when all I do is stay at home all the time." She looks back up to Beth. "Please do not be mad at me. I am, and always will, be grateful for the time I spent with you and your family. You have helped me understand this world above ground better. And how to be more human," she chuckles, indicating her synth body. "But, in every life, there is a time where one must, how to say, 'plow their own furrow.' This is my time.
"I bought a firearm while I was on the road. And I'm learning more about the wastes everyday. I believe I will be fine, madame." She gives her another hug, then turns and unexpectedly gives me one. "Take care of your family, oui? You have a fine one, the two of you." She turns to go back into the depths of the vault. "Au revoir!"
Beth POV
Bury My Heart by Peter Gundry
"So, that was something, huh?" Although I can understand why Curie wants to go out into the world, it's still hard to grasp how she's going to. Sure, she might be a scientist—and a good one at that—but does she have the necessary skills to kill enemies or food? To find useful tools in the ruins? Things that are second nature to me by now.
"Yeah," Robert agrees. "It was."
Out of the blue, I think about something that happened quite a lot when we were back in DC. As we step out of the elevator and start to make our way back outside, I ask him, "Back when we were in Little Lamplight, why did everyone call you RJ and not Robert? I mean, I get why—what with your name being Robert Joseph, but still."
He chuckles at the randomness, then shrugs. "I'm not sure. Maybe because it was easier to say, or it sounded better to them." He shrugs again.
Stepping out into the sun after all the artificial light makes us momentarily blind. After I can see again, I ask, "How come you never told me to call you that instead? Seems like after all those years of hearing it, that'd be what you liked and preferred."
"Not really. Actually, it's quite the opposite. Hearing everybody call me RJ for years on end—and you know how kids are, they're always wearing your name out—I kinda got tired of it. The only person I didn't mind hearing it from was Lucy."
I nod. "Makes sense, I guess."
We pass by Chestnut Hill Reservoir, and although I notice some noises, I just mark them up to being caused by the bloatflies on the other side of the water. They don't seem to notice us, and that's fine by me.
But the noises weren't caused by the mutated insects. And I shouldn't have ignored them.
"Got you now!"
I spin and see a man has captured Robert within his grasp, and he's holding a knife to his throat. I start to lunge at him—to do something—but Robert puts his hands up, telling me to stay back.
"What do you want?" I ask the man. He seems half-crazed—and if his muscles are any indication—clearly capable of killing Robert within seconds.
"You don't know?" he asks, sounding hurt. He then does a one-eighty and chuckles. "I guess you don't recognize me without my gear on, huh?"
Although I've never seen his face, I known his voice. "Dick?" How can this be him? Did he follow us?
"Yes!" He looks excited. "It's me!"
He's a rather nasty-looking man. His nose looks like it's been broken more than a few times. And it wouldn't surprise me if it has been, what with his being a security guard and how he's so cocky. His black hair is pulled back into a small ponytail, and he seems to be blind in his right eye—most likely from the large scar that reaches from it to his jawline. He smiles at me with a few missing teeth.
I swallow the lump that's starting to form in my throat. Again, I ask, "What do you want, Richard?" I decide calling him by his name, rather than his potentially offensive—and therefore threatening—nickname, may put him in a better mood—and able to get Robert away from him easier.
"I've told you before," he replies. "Have you forgotten so quickly? That hurts, sweetheart."
"Go to hell. She's not your sweet—" Robert starts to say before being shut up by the blade at his throat being moved closer.
"He's feisty." Dick acts like he makes the connection. "Oh, I see. The little bastard that charged me in Diamond City is his, huh?" He chuckles darkly. "Like father, like son, I suppose."
I take a new approach. "What can I do? …What can I do to make this go away?"
"You can't," he says. "Only thing to do is get rid of this son of a bitch. And that's what I intend to do. You'll be all mine in a minute." He moves the blade into position.
"No!" I yell, only to clear my throat. He looks up at me, surprised to have heard me raise my voice. "I mean. Why kill a man when I can be all yours right now?"
He looks even more shocked. "Mine? Now?"
"Right now," I tell him. "Just let him go, and I'll never see him again. I'm all yours, right now. You can't take me like you've been wanting to if you're holding him hostage."
He thinks it through. "You're right." He lowers the blade and drops his other arm from holding Robert. Yet, my husband stays put. "You're right…" He looks around on the ground, as if he's seeing something I can't. He's delusional, I think. "But," he continues, "he'll try to stop us. I know he will. This should slow him down some."
What happens next, I'm in no way prepared for.
He takes the knife in his hand and plunges it into the left side of Robert's back.
As Robert falls to the ground, wide eyes looking into my own the whole way down, I scream, "No!" I leap forward and take the very knife from Dick's hand before he has the chance to respond in any fashion. I don't know how I'm able to move and function as fast and efficiently as I am—yet I'm grateful I'm able to. With the same knife, still covered in Robert's blood, I start to stab Dick—right in the frickin' throat.
One stab, two stabs—so many gouges later, that I've lost count. He's dead, and that's all I know and care about. There's blood everywhere. It's covering him completely. It's on my hands and arms, on my hair, my face. Everything's painted red in the near vicinity—including my vision, tainted red with anger.
Finally—after brutally murdering my husband's assailant—I remember Robert lying on the ground behind me.
As I turn around to see where Robert is, I see him trying to get to me—but his crawling attempts are met with failure. There's blood around him, too—his own.
I run over to him, yelling, "Don't move! You're gonna make it worse!" There's too much blood to see the wound, but from how he's acting, I'd say it was a rather deep stab. I realize I'm crying, and this makes it very difficult to see anything clearly.
I reach into the bag that fell off when I attacked Dick, grabbing some Med-X and a couple Stimpaks. I quickly—and unfortunately, expertly—inject the pain med near the large penetration. "Beth," he says—quietly, but I can hear it.
"Shh-shut up!" I know I'm being too rough, and that this is no time to verbally abuse him, but I can't help my firmness. It has always been something I've done: be firm when I'm worried.
"No," he says stubbornly. "Listen." He grabs my arm as I'm about to pick up one of the Stimpaks. "If I don't make it—"
"You're going to!" A fresh wave of hot tears appear.
"If I don't, tell the boys how much I loved being their dad."
"No…" I wipe at the new drops of precipitation falling from my eyes, leaving a smear of blood in their wake.
"Yes," he tells me. "And tell—" He takes a few laboured breaths. "Tell Vitya how much I loved her."
"You tell her when we get home," I respond just as stubbornly. I ignore whatever he's about to say and inject the two Stimpaks I have with me. Why didn't we bring more with us?!
"I love you," he all but whispers.
"Shut up…" I repeat—not in such a fierce tone this time, but rather a subdued one. I wait for the miracle drug to kick in—to sew the wound closed like I've seen it do on so many occasions. It seems to take little, if no effect. I want to scream out, but I know it won't do any good, and my voice is too gave out to produce any sound at this point anyway.
I sit in silence.
A/N: I think I have a knack for this whole stabbing MacCready thing. First in chapter 37, now here. I'm not sorry. Sadly.