A/N: Another chapter which means another shameless beg for reviews!
It was a tricky chapter to write because it's really hard to describe the Memory Den scene from Fallout 4, so I hope I've done it justice. If it's unclear or confusing just let me know and I'll try and explain it better.
Again, please review!
I do not own Pitch Perfect or Fallout or any of their characters
Aubrey was annoyed. She was angry. She was downright furious with Beca. The tiny pain in her ass had promised her she'd use the radio at Diamond City to send a message to Aubrey, to let her know that they'd arrived and how much longer they planned to be away.
It shouldn't have taken them more than two days to reach the city. But it had been three days since they left and Aubrey hadn't heard a thing.
She was worried, and all she could think about was the day she'd found Beca. The way she'd half carried her back to Sanctuary, which was then little more than a house. How she'd cleaned her up, washing away the dirt and blood. How she'd held her hand while Stacie had stitched the gash in her leg that the bullet had left behind. Then later that night, holding her as she whispered what had happened to her and her mother, tears soaking into Aubrey's shirt.
She cared about all the girls at Sanctuary. None of them had any family left, so they became each other's family. She loved them all. But Beca was different. She was her best friend. She loved her with the same ferocity she had once felt for her younger sister. And she hadn't stopped worrying since she'd disappeared over the horizon three days ago.
"She'll be okay, you know?" Stacie said to her, breaking her out of her thoughts.
"I know," Aubrey said, without conviction.
"You know what Beca's like, she probably got distracted and forgot to radio in," she said.
"Yeah," Aubrey said, knowing that that wasn't like Beca at all.
They worked in silence, repairing one of their turrets, for a few more minutes until Stacie nudged her, before nodding to one of the roads leading into Sanctuary.
Three Minutemen were walking towards them.
Aubrey stood up and wiped the oil from her hands before she walked out to meet them.
"Aubrey," one of them said, by way of greeting.
"Preston," Aubrey said back. "What can we do for you?"
"We have a message from Beca," he said as they walked into Sanctuary together.
"She's okay?" Aubrey asked, feeling relief spread through her as he handed her a letter.
"She's okay," he said. "A little banged up but otherwise fine."
"When did you see her?"
"Yesterday morning. We mentioned we'd be passing by here, so she asked us if we'd stop by and deliver that," he said. "The radio in Diamond City is out so she couldn't get in touch."
"Thank you," Aubrey said. "It's getting dark, feel free to stay the night."
"We would like that, thank you," Preston said.
Stacie showed them to one of the unoccupied rooms, and gave them some food and water while Aubrey went into her own room in order to read the letter.
Bree,
Chloe and I are fine. We got to Diamond City and met up with Nick. We ran into some raiders on the way and things looked a little dicey, but we're okay now. Chloe and the Minutemen saved my ass.
Tomorrow we're heading to Goodneighbour with Nick so we can go to the Memory Den and try and get access to Chloe's memories.
I'm not sure when we'll be back, but I'll try and keep in touch. Try not to worry too much.
I hope you and the others are all well.
I miss you.
Beca
Aubrey looked down at the letter and sighed. She didn't like not knowing when Beca would be home.
"So you and Aubrey are close, huh?" Chloe asked her as they prepared to leave for Goodneighbour.
"Yeah," Beca said, loading her bag with new supplies. "She's my best friend."
"Did you two ever...?"
Beca laughed. "No," she said. "She's like my sister. Why do you ask?"
"Just curious," Chloe said. "Ready to go?"
"Sure," Beca said, standing and trying to lift the backpack, which Chloe immediately took off her. "Dude, I can do it."
"I'm sure you can," Chloe said, putting it on her back. "But the less strain you put on your shoulder, the faster it'll heal."
"If you're sure," Beca said, picking up her bat instead.
The two girls and Dogmeat left Nick's office to find him outside talking to one of the traders.
"How's the arm?" He asked Beca.
"Better," she said.
"Let's go then."
The journey to Goodneighbour was short and uneventful, and soon they were walking through the doors of the Memory Den.
It was dimly lit and full of red. Shabby red sofas, red walls, red doors. Nick lead them through the back and into a slightly cleaner, more well lit room. It had several TVs and pod-like chairs, and a woman in a white lab coat.
"Dr. Amari, these are my friends Beca and Chloe. Chloe's baby daughter was kidnapped, and we need your help in finding who did it," Nick said as they entered. He explained what they needed and eventually she agreed to help them.
"This will be difficult without an exact memory to jump to," she said. "We will probably have to move around through different memories first, are you okay with that?"
Chloe nodded, feeling nervous again. Amari sat her down in one of the pods.
"Is this safe?" Beca asked, feeling nervous herself.
"Of course it is," Amari said, as she set up the pod. "Okay Chloe, I'm going to ask you to watch the screen. Then everything will go dark for a second, and then you'll be inside your own memories. You'll have to follow a path and then you'll be in a specific memory which we will then watch. If it's the wrong one, I'll set out a new path for you to follow. Hopefully we'll reach the important one quickly. Are you ready?"
"Yes," Chloe said. "I'll see you soon," she added to Beca, who looked worried. Beca smiled at her.
"See you soon," she said.
"Okay," Amari said. "Watch the screen, Chloe."
Chloe stared at the TV screen in front of her, which at the minute had nothing except 'Please Wait' written on it. Dr. Amari closed the glass lid of the pod, and the outside noise died away. It didn't take long for the screen to be replaced by darkness.
Beca watched as Chloe's eyes closed, and then a few seconds later, the larger screen on the wall flickered into life.
"Chloe can you hear me?" Amari asked.
"Yes," came Chloe's slightly afraid voice from the screen on the wall. The Chloe in the pod remained quiet and still.
"Follow the first path," Amari said, typing something into her computer. A red web-like strand appeared in front of her, and Chloe hesitantly stepped on it. She followed the strand and soon reached a familiar sight.
The living room of the house she grew up in.
As soon as her feet touched the carpet, the memory started playing.
It was a simple one. Just her and her mother and father sitting on a their sofa, talking and laughing. At one point, her dad started to tickle her, and the five or six year old Chloe started to giggle and shriek, scrambling to get away from him.
Chloe watched them with tears building in her eyes.
"We went too far back," Amari said, typing things into her computer again. "Follow the path out of the room, Chloe and we'll try again."
Chloe didn't follow the path out but instead moved further into the room. She reached out to try and touch them, but her hand passed through them.
"Chlo', are you okay?" Beca asked.
"Yeah," she said, clearing her throat. She turned her back on her family and left the room.
The next room she reached was the bedroom she'd had as a teenager. Chloe saw her 15 year old self sitting on her bed beside another girl around the same age.
"Uh, this isn't right," Chloe said, quickly. "Another six years forward at least."
"One second," Amari said, before the Chloe on the bed began making out with the girl beside her. Amari typed quickly as Chloe felt herself getting redder and redder, trying not to watch her first kiss with a girl. "Okay, take the path out."
She did quickly and left the room behind.
The next room was the living room of her old house. The house she'd lived in before the bomb dropped. A 21 year old Chloe was sitting on her sofa with baby Emily in her arms. She was staring blankly ahead as a man in uniform spoke to her. The memory started playing.
"Do you understand what I've said to you ma'am?" The man asked.
"Yes," Chloe said. Her voice was quiet but oddly calm.
"It was a terrible accident, and we lost a lot of people, including your husband. He was a good soldier, and he'll be greatly missed."
"We weren't married," Chloe said. "We were going to when he came home."
"Oh," he said. "I'm sorry. There is one more thing," he pulled out an envelope. "Because he died in service-
"In training. He died training," Chloe said, interrupting.
"Yes," the man said. "Because he died in training, we would like to offer you a place in Vault 111."
The real Chloe had stopped listening. Instead she focused on the face of her daughter, and felt a new wave of determination to find her.
"Chloe? Can you hear us? I said you could move on," Amari said.
Chloe turned her back on the scene and carried on following the path.
She felt like she was walking for a long time before she reached the next memory.
This time she found herself in a room filled with pods.
She saw herself, frozen and holding Emily.
"This is it," she said. "This is the one."