James held his hands over the microscope, pausing in his work. In an action like this he was allowed a moment of free time, when he was expected to be examining the item in the slide; he used the few seconds free to muse on important items, rather than use the free time he had before sleeping.

He knew from a long and arduous process it was far better not to dwell on those things before bed. Beyond the nightmares he'd been subject to, it had affected his work. The Enclave had little use for a scientist that wasn't producing results, especially one that they were under no obligation to house.

James stared into the microscope, seeing the prepared slide and its contents, but not comprehending. Lillie. Couldn't not think about his daughter; whether she was well, what she was going through. How President Eden and Colonel Autumn were treating her, if she was happy, if she was lonely. He wondered if she was of sound heart, and what was going through her mind.

His own was tortured by the thought that she was deprived of love, having lost both her mother and her father. For the last five years he had been kept away from her, locked away in this functional laboratory prison. Kept busy, out of the loop. And for the last year, he hadn't heard anything about his daughter. Not a single word, not even from President Eden. He spoke to the President about once a week.

The President was nothing but words, a worm in his ear, blathering uselessly to him over an intercom. James had his suspicions about the man, about why he was physically isolated from the Enclave in his own right. None of them were pleasant enough to dwell on for very long.

He'd asked every single day of the last five months for a status update on Lillie, speaking at the intercom light on the wall even when he wasn't in a conversation with President Eden. Prior to that, he'd asked at available opportunities; with no information, and no outlook on whether or not he would receive the knowledge of her even being alive, he'd pressed further.

The President told him nothing. The soldiers minding him, knew nothing. Total silence on the status of his only child, whom he had damned to this existence―

James noticed the microscope lens was fogging up, and quickly validated the data before he ruined the equipment. He would fight for the knowledge of what was happening in Lillie's life. But he would not let the Enclave see how badly the silence affected him.

James moved a hand to remove the slide, but paused at the sound of the door opening. A voice rang out behind him.

"Doctor."

James turned, his lab suit rustling loudly in the deathly silent laboratory. Colonel Autumn stood behind him, one hand on his wrist, adjusting his glove. James stared at him for a long moment, noting how much older the man looked since he'd last seen him. It was as if he'd aged ten years, looking far older than he should at a respectable near-sixty.

"Colonel," James replied, finally acknowledging him. "To what do I owe this pleasure."

"President Eden feels it is necessary that I inform you of the continued well-being of your daughter," Autumn said. He sounded tired and disheartened. An unusual sound for the normally agitated man.

James raised an eyebrow at him, the motion going unnoticed under his full-face visor. "And is she? Well?"

"The term is relative," Colonel Autumn drawled, lowering his hands to his sides. "She is alive. In decent health."

"And her mental health?" James asked, turning back to the microscope and removing the slide. He laid it gently onto the counter top and looked back at the colonel. "Has she coped well with being separated from all the family she has?"

"I doubt her state could be considered 'well', in that regard," Autumn muttered, sounding cross.

James paused for a moment, his hand hovering over the next slide. That was as he'd imagined; Lillie always was a sensitive child. He closed his eyes and breathed out, slowly.

"What do you mean by that, Colonel?" he asked, as neutrally as possible, opening his eyes.

"You and I both know how old your daughter is," Autumn began, wearily. He was quiet for nearly two whole minutes, causing James to stop and watch him. "...Extenuating circumstances have delayed her maturity. She is... experiencing difficulty with this particular portion of her life."

James stared at him with an incredulous face. He didn't think he'd ever have the opportunity to witness Colonel Autumn at a loss for words, much less speak with such an awkward stilt. As if the topic caused him consternation, or made him uncomfortable. It was also notable that the man was volunteering as much information as he had.

"I take that to mean, she's a normal moody teenager?" James asked, somewhat relieved at that. At least... it meant that Lillie had grown up. He would always remember the yellow-haired bumbling toddler. To know she was alive and able to go through puberty was something he was grateful for.

He hoped that Lillie had not been brainwashed into believing the Enclave rhetoric; that she was making her own decisions based on her own independent research rather than accepting what Eden spouted as truth. Catherine had taught him the value of thinking in that way. She would not have been proud to see how James and Lillie had ended, stuck in this dismal bunker for the rest of their lives.

James sighed to himself. He could only blame himself for that.

"If that is what you consider normal, she is very normal," Colonel Autumn said, his voice strained. His hands clenched into fists, at his sides. James shot him a critical glance and began to put away the slides, carefully lowering the container into the refrigerator unit.

"I don't suppose I could be allowed to see her?" James asked, trying not to sound hopeful. Five years had passed. He was sure she would be unrecognizable to him, now. But he had to try.

"No," Autumn said, crisply. "Lillie believes that you are dead."

James' hands slipped on the refrigerator door, closing it a little harder than he'd intended. The loud noise echoed through the room, causing Autumn to wince and raise a hand to his temple. James turned and stared at him for a moment, then let loose onto the man.

"Why?" he asked, furiously. "Why would she believe that?! What utter idiocy could convince you to tell her―" he raised a hand a made a cutting motion in the air, stilling Autumn's reply. "I know if anyone were to tell her such a thing, it would be you, Colonel. Why―why would you tell her that I was dead?!"

Autumn breathed out through his nose, jaw tensed and lips pressed together. "If you ever want to see your daughter alive again, you would do well not to behave like an ingrate," he said, through his teeth. "Lillie is doing fine, and you are risking her life."

James turned back to the counter top with a sharp turn of his heel, laying his hands on the surface with a smack. "It would be better for both of us to actually be dead," he snapped, staring at the microscope. The bastard―lying to Lillie like that!

"I somehow doubt that is really what you feel," Autumn drawled. "And I would gladly deliver you to your death, James. Do not forget that." He stared at the doctor with a hateful look on his face. "I have already gone beyond the limits of my patience, in dealing with you."

"I'm glad to know we have a mutual distaste for one another," James replied, his tone acidic.

Autumn lowered his hand from his temple. "The President has asked that you continue your research," he said, switching tracks. "I trust you can manage that." He moved a foot backward and snapped to the side in a rigid stance, then paused.

James stared at the counter top, trying not to lose his composure. His poor Lillie―everything she had in life had been stolen from her. It was despicable. Intolerable. He didn't know how much longer he could contain his own anger. Even this tiny bit of knowledge about her drove him insane, feeling that he would never be able to enact any change―

Autumn was staring at him, still, turned sideways and working his fingers as if he were contemplating something. James looked at him through the corner of his eyes, and breathed out in a huff. "What is it, Colonel?" he demanded. "Why can't you leave me to my work?"

"...It might comfort you to know," Autumn said, slowly turning his head back to James, "that President Eden has befriended the girl and protected her."

"It doesn't," James snarled, spinning his head to stare at Autumn. "Who or what would Lillie need to be protected from? The world isn't here, Autumn. It's out there." His hand flew out toward a wall, fingers extended and arm trembling in anger.

Autumn said nothing, following the movement of his arm with his eyes. James glared at the Colonel, who raised a hand to his chest, holding it to his heart. "Out there is why I'm being held, and why Lillie is being treated as an experiment by that―" he growled in frustration and slapped his hand onto the counter top, angrily. "That impertinent jackaninny that you call your President!"

"You are entitled to your own opinion," Autumn replied, evenly. He paused, moving his hand into his breast pocket. "James."

James dropped his eyes to the counter and muttered to himself. Autumn drew out a holotape from his coat. He turned and slid the tape over the counter, then withdrew without a word or expression to indicate his intent.

"I will let you exercise your best judgement," Autumn said, sounding as emotionless as anyone ever could. "Though I do suggest you do so as... privately as possible. Good day, James."

Colonel Autumn withdrew from the room as James stuffed the holotape into his pocket, pulling another set of slides from the refrigerator unit and returning to work.

Later, James had the opportunity to examine the holotape on a terminal that was not connected to the bunker network. It had password protection, which James bypassed without concern; he felt a bit underwhelmed when he discovered the password was "Lillie".

Typing furious in the dark of the lab and hoping the guards would not blunder onto his subterfuge, James opened the first document on the tape and examined it. This was mostly gibberish but a defined time and date was set into the mess. The time was 2130, a 24-hour military time. He knew this time period was when the day guards changed out for night shift. The date was two days into the future.

The second document was a map of the area surrounding Raven Rock, including a marked path to the nearest neutral habitation. James started to have a sick feeling in his stomach, thinking about judgement.

He narrowed his eyes at the terminal, and selected the third document. It took him a moment to fully comprehend what he was seeing. Without looking twice, he ejected the holotape and stared at it in confusion. It was...

Escape. Encapsulated in a holotape that had been prepared specifically for him... by Colonel Autumn.

His first thought was that Autumn was setting him up to be killed. If he followed through on the plan hinted at on the tape, he might be walking directly into a trap. He half expected it was a game, something Autumn was playing at because he was tired of having to deal with James.

But Autumn had acted as if the tape was suspicious. The man had told him to exercise his judgement in private―because he was afraid he would be caught giving him this information?

James blinked in surprise. Colonel Autumn was afraid. Of President Eden? Autumn couldn't leave the bunker himself. He would be leaving behind his soldiers to a fate worse than James', if caught. James could admire that, even if the man was a stunted specimen of humanity.

But―why give James this information? Autumn hated him with an unceasing passion; James hated him equally in return. What had changed about the man that he was willing to give his enemy a chance to flee imprisonment? What would cause him to risk his position, his power, his life?

...And why was the password on the holotape his daughter's name?